Wolf Hall: A Review

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great but difficult read. The book demands some patient and involved reading atleast for first 100 pages or so to get some grip on the characters and a bit unusual writing style like the incessant use of "He" to allude to the protagonist of the story. I had to frequently consult wiki for some of the words related to the papacy and church on which the context of some of the parts of the book heavily relies. Then there is the case of an array of characters which with different titles which keep coming up time to time. The character index at the start of the book really helps the reader to sort through the maze of these characters.
But all these hurdles lead up to a rich and rewarding reading exercise of 650 pages about Thomas Cromwell who from a life of ruffian rises to a position next to the King of England. The book is a fascinating read both in terms of insight and drama. One gets quite an immersive experience in terms of relationship between the church, the king and the subjects. Of the characters I found Anne Boleyn to be most interesting with the air of mystique that is lent to her in the first part and thereafter the bitchiness that she acquires.
Before starting this book I didn't have any idea about these famous characters in history and so started it with no past baggage, and in that respect thus this book was quite enriching.

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