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Wolf Hall cover art

Wolf Hall

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Dan Stevens
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Summary

Winner of the Man Booker Prize.

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize.

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award.

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.

Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.

©2009 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good." (Daily Mail)

"Our most brilliant English writer." (Guardian)

What listeners say about Wolf Hall

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Abridged Version!

Rather annoyingly, I found this to be an abridged version of the book and nowhere does it say that that is the case. In fact, it’s only about one-third of the text, which is worth considering if you want (as I did) to hear the entire thing. Whilst Dan Stevens’ reading is a really good performance, it’s not the entire book.

Bear this review in mind, as other unabridged versions are available!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • J
  • 07-10-11

Excellent narration

The delivery by Downton Abbey star, Dan Stevens, was excellent. He managed to differentiate between all the characters so well.
The script was very lively, with lots of speech. I found it too closely edited, at times, and spent too much time rewinding to try and clarify the meaning. For example, many times the narrator said, "He arrived.." or "He said", etc, and it was not clear who the 'he' referred to was. It would have taken up little extra spoken time to say 'Cromwell' or 'Henry' arrived. Apart from that it was great

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wolf Hall

I began this book with the pre-conception that Thomas Cromwell was a deeply unpleasant man and finished it with much respect for a very clever and rather likeable one driven by circumstance. The narration of the abridged version is superb, the characters came alive for me and I cannot wait for the planned second part of this saga - I know the ending but the story has never been so well told.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

wow

spectacular I read this over xmas and hated turning the final page so I have now downloaded and I have not been dissapointed
I know I will also hate to finish this a masterpiece

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Hilary Mantel creates a world which I only every considered through the lense of Shakespearean drama, or Shakespearean biopic. The characterisation is believable, thoughtful and consistent. The great names from history lose enough of their shine to become personable, yet also maintain a weight about them that reminds us that these were world-shapers. Historical drama it may be, and so the details to these events are fictional, but a great read (listen).

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Warrants all the accolades

What is there left to say about Wolf Hall? Winner of the Booker prize (like the sequel). It is a novel that actually deserves all the praise heaped on it. I'm not a huge fan of history-based fiction (faction?) but this is terrifically well written and read. I have to say I prefer Dan Stevens elegant narration here to the narration of 'Bodies'. Hopefully they'll bring him back for the third in the trilogy.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wolf Hall

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, very well written and Dan Stevens has to be the best narrator I have listened to, he does the story justice, I felt as though I was actually there amongst these different characters. I would absolutely recommend this audiobook if you're into tudor history.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

So good

This is such a good book. I looked forward to it every time. I am waiting for the next (continuation) of this book. You will not regret getting this. Hours of pleasure.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

Excellent book and great narration, thank you for a very enjoyable couple of hours listening

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it

Great narration by Dan Stevens and great abridged version of the story. I will definitely listen to the others in the trilogy

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