The Mirror & the Light - Moé for Solarpunk Books

Paperback, 480 pages

Published May 4, 2021 by Picador.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-18249-4

(2 reviews)

With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, …

With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?

Eagerly awaited and eight years in the making, The Mirror & the Light completes Cromwell’s journey from self-made man to one of the most feared, influential figures of his time. Portrayed by Mantel with pathos and terrific energy, Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a husband and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.

22 editions

Bonden reviewed Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

5 stars

Completing The Mirror And The Light is like waking from a dream. I've read the entire trilogy one after the other and absolutely adored every page of every one. All three are written in a very idiosyncratic style, almost like a stream of consciousness but as if Cromwell is observing his own life at one remove. I've seen people turned off these books by that stylistic choice but to me it worked perfectly, at times it was like I was reading prose in the style of poetry - a constantly shifting perception of events, past influences and a haunting history melding together in a blur of emotions and ideas. Beautiful.

The entire trilogy has made it into my personal top 3 (I tend to lump book series together as one entity), second only to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series. It's been a long time since a (series of) book(s) moved me …

Completing The Mirror And The Light is like waking from a dream. I've read the entire trilogy one after the other and absolutely adored every page of every one. All three are written in a very idiosyncratic style, almost like a stream of consciousness but as if Cromwell is observing his own life at one remove. I've seen people turned off these books by that stylistic choice but to me it worked perfectly, at times it was like I was reading prose in the style of poetry - a constantly shifting perception of events, past influences and a haunting history melding together in a blur of emotions and ideas. Beautiful.

The entire trilogy has made it into my personal top 3 (I tend to lump book series together as one entity), second only to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series. It's been a long time since a (series of) book(s) moved me and affected me quite so much. Brilliant.

David Farnell reviewed The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel

Is there a word for that grief you feel when you've finished reading an amazing book?

5 stars

(my first book review here) I've just recently finished this magnificent book, with is the 3rd in the recently deceased Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy, which began with Wolf Hall. It is historical fiction, and reading the series has led me to reading more about Henry VIII's period; while I read a lot about Shakespeare's period when I was in school, I had never read much about the history just a few decades before that. As with the first two books, the writer's/main character's voice is perfect throughout, letting us see his world and his own complex character. Like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, this is a remarkably feminist book for one that keeps women largely to the periphery--we see how hard women's lives are more by inference than by direct statement, because even though Cromwell is a brilliant man, he is still blinkered by his culture. I …

(my first book review here) I've just recently finished this magnificent book, with is the 3rd in the recently deceased Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy, which began with Wolf Hall. It is historical fiction, and reading the series has led me to reading more about Henry VIII's period; while I read a lot about Shakespeare's period when I was in school, I had never read much about the history just a few decades before that. As with the first two books, the writer's/main character's voice is perfect throughout, letting us see his world and his own complex character. Like Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, this is a remarkably feminist book for one that keeps women largely to the periphery--we see how hard women's lives are more by inference than by direct statement, because even though Cromwell is a brilliant man, he is still blinkered by his culture. I listened to all three books read by Ben Miles, who is perfect as reader. Highly recommended.