Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel

Read in hardback - firstly borrowed from Millie, then I bought my own copy so I could read Wolf Hall again, then read this book again.

It starts where Wolf Hall leaves off, with Henry VIII now married to Anne Boleyn, and covers the years until her execution.  After forcing the break with the Catholic church, her inability to give Henry a son makes him again question the validity of his marriage.

Told from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell, by now the King's closest confidante, it follows the extreme pressure he is under to remove all obstacles in the way of the King obtaining his new object of desire - Jane Seymour.

Scenes and characters from Wolf Hall echo through this book.  It's as beautifully and poetically written, but now Cromwell has to be even more ruthless in service of the King.

I simply cannot wait for the third book in the series, where the downfall of Cromwell will be played out.

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

Originally read in 2009, as part of the Booker shortlist, which it went on to win.  Read again in hardback in preparation for reading the sequel.

Tells the story of Henry VIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon, from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell, a commoner who rises to the position of Henry's most trusted advisor.

A magnificent feat of imagination, bringing to life those who lived in Tudor times, their motivations (greed and power) echoing with relevance today.

Words cannot express how much I loved this book.  I read it twice when it first came out, and again this year after I'd read Bring Up the Bodies, so I could read that book again too.