The Mirror & the Light by Hilary MantelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"This is why we have courts of law... to protect us from the tyranny of one man's opinion."
But what happens if that one man is the King of England who uses the courts to produce tailored verdicts?
The third book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy was a whopping 757 pages long!! Best read in short chapters, we have all the politics and wars and uprisings that plagued Tudor England from Henry's 3rd, 4th, and 5th wives.
Mantel makes a vast cast memorable, each character fully alive, with dialogue that seems writ from life. Particularly loved the details about Tudor food, and Cromwell's genius for learning about everything.
Reading Mantel is a masterclass in how to write. But it also reminds us of how little human nature changes...merely the players. And who doesn't love a good rags-to-riches story?! Albeit one that ends realistically, for after all, "blood is the precipitation of our age."
All the nuance of Henry VIII's flawed decision making was brought to light, and I come away with this feeling sad at how we continue to exhibit bloodthirstiness in condemning fellow Christians from different denominations... centuries later.
(Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars... would have rated it higher had it been a few hundred pages shorter!! But still ... a good read!)
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