Listen free for 30 days
-
The Mirror and the Light
- The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 3
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Series: The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 3
- Length: 38 hrs and 11 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
People who bought this also bought...
-
Wolf Hall
- The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great story but too many saliva sounds
- By K. Patel on 17-07-20
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Mannered style. Dreary reading. Left me cold.
- By Amazon Customer on 14-06-18
-
The Jewel in the Crown
- Raj Quartet
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the India of 1942, two rapes take place simultaneously - that of an English girl in Mayapore, and that of India by the British. In each, physical violence, racial animosity, the coercion of the weak by the strong all play their part, but playing a part too are love, affection, loyalty, and recognition that the last division of all to be overcome is the colour of the skin.
-
-
Good start - where's the rest of the Raj Quartet?
- By K Bookworm on 27-02-15
-
The Honorary Consul
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gripping tragi-comedy of a bungled kidnapping in a provincial Argentinean town tells the story of Charley Fortnum, the 'Honorary Consul', a whisky-sodden figure of dubious authority, who is taken by a group of revolutionaries. As Eduardo Plarr, a local doctor, negotiates with revolutionaries and authorities for Fortnum's release, the corruption of both becomes evident.
-
-
Cracking Tale, Very Well Read
- By Robert on 29-04-12
-
The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England’s greatest royal dynasty, the Plantagenets, ruled over England through eight generations of kings. Their remarkable reign saw England emerge from the Dark Ages to become a highly organised kingdom that spanned a vast expanse of Europe. Plantagenet rule saw the establishment of laws and creation of artworks, monuments and tombs which survive to this day, and continue to speak of their sophistication, brutality and secrets. Dan Jones brings you a new vision of this battle-scarred history.
-
-
Entertaining and scholarly
- By Kirstine on 23-08-19
-
Bleak House
- The Audible Dickens Collection
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 43 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Audible Exclusive performance features a unique introduction written and narrated by Miriam Margolyes. Recognised as one of Dickens' most accomplished titles, Bleak House has impressed critics and audiences alike since it was first published in 1852. The novel boasts one of the most intelligent and engaging plots in all of English literature and is sure to engage the listener's imagination as it transports us back in time to the seedy, grimy and hazardous streets of Victorian London.
-
-
genius
- By uk person on 13-05-18
-
Wolf Hall
- The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great story but too many saliva sounds
- By K. Patel on 17-07-20
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Mannered style. Dreary reading. Left me cold.
- By Amazon Customer on 14-06-18
-
The Jewel in the Crown
- Raj Quartet
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the India of 1942, two rapes take place simultaneously - that of an English girl in Mayapore, and that of India by the British. In each, physical violence, racial animosity, the coercion of the weak by the strong all play their part, but playing a part too are love, affection, loyalty, and recognition that the last division of all to be overcome is the colour of the skin.
-
-
Good start - where's the rest of the Raj Quartet?
- By K Bookworm on 27-02-15
-
The Honorary Consul
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The gripping tragi-comedy of a bungled kidnapping in a provincial Argentinean town tells the story of Charley Fortnum, the 'Honorary Consul', a whisky-sodden figure of dubious authority, who is taken by a group of revolutionaries. As Eduardo Plarr, a local doctor, negotiates with revolutionaries and authorities for Fortnum's release, the corruption of both becomes evident.
-
-
Cracking Tale, Very Well Read
- By Robert on 29-04-12
-
The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England’s greatest royal dynasty, the Plantagenets, ruled over England through eight generations of kings. Their remarkable reign saw England emerge from the Dark Ages to become a highly organised kingdom that spanned a vast expanse of Europe. Plantagenet rule saw the establishment of laws and creation of artworks, monuments and tombs which survive to this day, and continue to speak of their sophistication, brutality and secrets. Dan Jones brings you a new vision of this battle-scarred history.
-
-
Entertaining and scholarly
- By Kirstine on 23-08-19
-
Bleak House
- The Audible Dickens Collection
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 43 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Audible Exclusive performance features a unique introduction written and narrated by Miriam Margolyes. Recognised as one of Dickens' most accomplished titles, Bleak House has impressed critics and audiences alike since it was first published in 1852. The novel boasts one of the most intelligent and engaging plots in all of English literature and is sure to engage the listener's imagination as it transports us back in time to the seedy, grimy and hazardous streets of Victorian London.
-
-
genius
- By uk person on 13-05-18
-
The Old Wives' Tale
- By: Arnold Bennett
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 24 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old Wives' Tale is broken up into four parts, and the lives of two sisters are laid bare: one timid and unassuming, the other romantic and adventurous. From working as children in their family's drapery shop to their later years, Constance and Sophia's journey through life could not be more different. While one travels the world and defies male expectations, the other becomes a dutiful wife and mother.
-
-
Slow down and let yourself go
- By Jane on 24-04-10
-
Dissolution
- Shardlake, Book 1
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries.
-
-
Excellent historical & mystery drama
- By Peter Weatherby on 21-02-15
-
The Unconsoled
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. Ryder, a renowned pianist, arrives in a Central European city he cannot identify for a concert he cannot remember agreeing to give. But then as he traverses a landscape by turns eerie and comical - and always strangely malleable, as a dream might be - he comes steadily to realise he is facing the most crucial performance of his life.
-
-
Narcissism, ADD, Kafka, and regret intertwined
- By Anthony on 24-03-18
-
Rumpole of the Bailey [Recorded Books]
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the first of six witty short stories, 60s-something English barrister, Horace Rumpole, takes on the younger generation both at home and in the hallowed courtroom—while offending his esteemed colleagues and his draconian wife, Hilda.
-
-
Cracking Audiobook !
- By Martin on 04-11-13
-
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This quintessential coming-of-age novel describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus. It is set in Ireland during the 19th century, which was a time of emerging Irish nationalism and conservative Catholicism. Highly autobiographical in nature, the work is also notable for its being the first one in which Joyce uses innovative “stream of consciousness” writing style. A Portrait... follows Stephen Dedalus from his babyhood into early adulthood.
-
-
tantalising, tickling all of the senses
- By Hannah on 11-03-19
-
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anna Bentinck
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, one of our very best writers brings the opulent world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII’s coutiers. But the bloody theatre of Cromwell’s ascension will leave no one unscathed.
-
-
Brilliant books, differing performances
- By Nimnil on 03-01-20
-
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Katie Scarfe
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Cordelia Gray: 22, tough, intelligent, and now sole inheritor of the Pryde Detective Agency. Her first assignment finds her hired by Sir Ronald Callender to investigate the death of his son Mark, a young Cambridge student found hanged in mysterious circumstances. Required to delve into the hidden secrets of the Callender family, Cordelia soon realizes it is not a case of suicide, and that the truth is entirely more sinister.
-
-
WOW
- By peregrine on 09-12-14
-
A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement
- By: Anthony Powell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anthony Powell's universally acclaimed epic encompasses a four-volume panorama of twentieth century London. Hailed by Time as "brilliant literary comedy as well as a brilliant sketch of the times," A Dance to the Music of Time opens just after World War I. Amid the fever of the 1920s and the first chill of the 1930s, Nick Jenkins and his friends confront sex, society, business, and art.
-
-
Completely compulsive and absorbing
- By Louisa on 31-05-12
-
Moll Flanders
- By: Daniel Defoe
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"The fortunes and misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders, who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continue'd variety for three-score years, besides her childhood, was twelve year a whore, five times a wife (whereof once to her own brother), twelve year a thief, eight year a transported felon in Virginia at last grew rich, liv'd honest, and died a penitent."
-
-
Moll Flanders
- By Tanya I am very upset to tell you that I have not received these items as yet...Therefore I can not comment on them... I have friends waiting for their Christmas gifts still... Dissatisfied is all I can say!!!! on 15-11-17
-
The House of Silk
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.
-
-
a ripping yarn
- By L on 25-02-12
-
Hamnet
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Daisy Donovan
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.
-
-
Narrator fights writing and wins (sadly)
- By Leaf Green on 20-07-20
-
Midnight's Children
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Homer Todiwala
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Audible production expertly brings to life Salman Rushdie’s postcolonial masterpiece Midnight’s Children, available for the first time unabridged in audio. Written in the magical-realist style that Rushdie is renowned for, Midnight’s Children follows Saleem Sinai - a child gifted with extraordinary powers after being born at the exact moment India becomes independent. The captivating events that unfold act as an allegory for India’s transition from colonialism to independence as Saleem finds himself 'handcuffed to history', with his fate entwined with that of his newly independent state.
-
-
Good book, maybe not as an audiobook
- By Anonymous User on 09-04-19
Summary
Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020
Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020
The long-awaited sequel to Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, the stunning conclusion to Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning Thomas Cromwell trilogy.
‘If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?’
England, 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, Thomas 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. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he 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 breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him?
With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with 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.
Critic reviews
“You’ll frequently hit the rewind button to fully appreciate the many, many perfect passages.” (Irish Times)
“Actor Ben Miles played Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, making him the perfect choice to narrate the remarkable final instalment in the Man Booker Prize-winning trilogy.” (Vogue)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Mirror and the Light
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Dawson
- 05-03-20
Wrong narrator
How to ruin a great book. This guy has no understanding of how to read this book. The previous narrators had a subtlety and skill, this narrator makes a mockery of the book. Incredibly disappointing, after eagerly looking forward to it. I'm returning my copy and hoping at some stage they re-think their decision. Can I encourage you to do the same?
91 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ellen Coleman
- 07-03-20
The narrator is fine
I was concerned when purchasing this due to the poor reviews of the narrator, however I have not had a problem with him. While he is not as good as Simon Slater (narrator of Wolf Hall), I would argue that he is an improvement from his predecessor Simon Vance (Bring up the Bodies), who would default to a monotone when he couldn't keep up with some of the longer sentences. Ben Miles injects good expression into his narration which makes for a much easier listen for a book so long. The main problem these reviewers have appears to be Cromwell's voice, which is not 'posh' enough. I agree the accents are not always perfect, but I personally find Cromwell's 'rougher' voice enhances the story by serving as a constant reminder of his low background and what the courtiers will be thinking of him (something easy to forget when you're in the man's eloquent head). In some cases I honestly think these reviews come off as slightly prejudiced, which is disappointing to see. Given audibles policy on returns, I would encourage those considering this audiobook to give it a go, and judge for yourself whether the narration works for you.
86 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maxwell Justus Mitchell
- 11-03-20
Exceptional Final Volume of the Wolf Hall Trilogy
I would strongly recommend that you listen to the first two volumes in the trilogy - Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies - before listening to The Mirror and the Light. Otherwise, many of the allusions and references in the book may be lost on you. You need to follow the story right from the beginning in order to fully appreciate the plot and the characters in this final volume. Disregard everything that other reviewers are saying about the narrator giving a poor performance. Hilary Mantel chose Ben Miles specifically to read the audiobook, and if all of the critics in the comments section would take the time to listen to the interview with the author at the end of The Mirror and the Light you will see that Mantel praises Miles effusively for the voices he does for each character. She even goes so far as to say that Ben Miles' voice for Cromwell is the voice she hears in her head when thinking about how Cromwell would have spoken. Thomas Cromwell was from Putney and was the son of a blacksmith, so it's natural that he would have spoken with a more 'working class' accent. The narrators for the previous two volumes in the trilogy, Simon Slater and Simon Vance, make Cromwell sound like he was an aristocratic courtier. I have listened to the whole of The Mirror and the Light and I can say without hesitation that Ben Miles puts his heart and soul into the narration and really makes the different characters come alive. I have listened to approximately 4 hours per day of this book since it was released on Audible and I have only just finished it this morning. This makes me suspect that the people writing hundreds of negative reviews have not bothered to finish the book, but rather are complaining about the narration after only a couple of hours of listening time. Have some patience with Ben Miles' narration and I assure you that you will come to really enjoy the voices he does for each character as you get further into the book's plot. The book itself is absolutely exceptional. The plot is very tense and gripping, and you are left on the edge of your seat waiting to see exactly when and how Cromwell will fall from grace and be parted with his head. The prose is beautiful and evocative, with many paragraphs reading more like poetry. I would say that compared to the previous two volumes, this volume is more philosophical and elegiac in tone. There's less saucy humour than in Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and it spends more time wrestling with deep issues like the inevitability of death, morality, faith, our fallibility when it comes to knowing ourselves and to knowing others, etc. The ending is obviously very sad. If it's any consolation, Thomas Howard and the evil Bishop Gardiner were both imprisoned in the tower not long after Cromwell was beheaded. There are also historical documents which suggest that Henry VIII came to deeply regret Cromwell's execution, and, indeed, his realm was not well managed for the remainder of his reign. I really enjoyed Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, but I would say that The Mirror and the Light is the best volume of the trilogy. Mantel really gives it her all, and it left a deep impression on me. I would be amazed if she doesn't win the Booker Prize for this (which would make her the only person in history to win the award three times). Anyway, this is not a short book, so be prepared for a considerable time investment. But the book will repay your efforts and then some.
81 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gracie50
- 06-03-20
Ruined by narration again
Disappointed by narrator again. The trilogy is a masterpiece but why so little attention given to narration after wolf Hall
59 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-03-20
Story brilliant - Narration dreadful!
Eagerly anticipated but bitterly disappointed. The poor narration lacks characterisation and empathy with the the long awaited and usual brilliant Mantel storytelling.
48 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 06-03-20
Awful narrator
The narrator reads this with about as much conviction as he reads a shopping list. From the get go, a sombre scene of Anne Boleyn's body being lifted away with all the horror, tragedy and ramifications is almost momotone. Awful accents and characterisations. I can't listen to it. I will be returning it.
44 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- lena
- 05-03-20
Ruined by narration style
I don’t know if the narrator was given a direction to follow but it has made the audiobook unlistenable. Wish 4thEstateBooks had used either the first or second narrator for #TheMirrorandtheLight The new one sounds like a bad actor from Eastenders when speaking as Cromwell. Harsh critique I know but it is quite a change from the approach in the first two audiobooks. Also names of characters pronounced differently from the previous books, which is a bit jarring as well. Have been waiting months for this release and am desperately disappointed. Have abandoned it and opting to read the hardback instead.
43 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JOHN
- 08-03-20
The Narration is Fine - Ignore the Naysayers!
I'm about a quarter of the way into the book so am not in a position to give a definitive review. However, it has garnered almost universal praise and from what I've listened to thus far it is easy to see why. What has prompted me to post this review is the surprising number of listeners who have been disappointed with the narration ("awful", "terrible", "appalling", etc). This genuinely perplexes me as I think Ben Miles does an excellent job. He was also chosen for the job by Mantel herself. He has played Cromwell in the RSC production of "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" and so understands the character inside out. Mantel, in a statement issued by Macmillan Audio in January, said: "“His insights from the rehearsal room helped shape the story. He is familiar with how all the characters grow, from first page to last. His voice is as close as can be to the voice that’s in my head as I write.” [Edit: 29/3/20 - I finished the book yesterday. Absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Thank you Hilary Mantel and thank you Ben Miles for the outstanding narration.]
42 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KT
- 07-03-20
Appalling Narration
The narrator is terrible, I’m not sure I can finish this. There’s no narrative continuity between this and the previous 2 books. Names are pronounced differently. It’s a real shame as I’ve waited a long time for this. I’m looking at my options to return this. Really disappointing.
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer Coldwell
- 06-03-20
Writing of perfection, reading disappointing
Like many people, I've waited with baited breath for this book. Now, listening to this reader, I don't know whether I can finish it. So hard to tell who's speaking. Why don't people realise the reader can make or break the book. It's a criminal offence to trample over her words like this. Sometimes Cromwell sounds like (as someone else has said) a thug from East Enders and sometimes he has a slight Northern accent. I think Ben Miles is listening to his own voice, and therefore he blocks Hilary Mantel's voice. Bitterly disappointing.
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David
- 10-03-20
Excellent writing, perfect casting
Easily the best performance of all the books. Ben Miles injects Cromwell with the kind of quietness, ruthlessness, yet down to earth humour you would expect of someone of Cromwell's heritage and journey in life. Miles has played Cromwell excellently on stage with the RSC, but in this performance he actually channels Mark Rylance's incredible portrayal of Cromwell in the series Wolf Hall in my opinion, and does an excellent job. So ignore those complaining about accents and the like, and listen for yourself. The book itself, as you would expect, is excellent. The writing is exquisite and the conclusion to this trilogy is everything you would expect and more.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bjerkana
- 14-04-20
Fabulous trip back in time
I began this book, having already listened to the previous two books in the trilogy, just at the beginning of the Coronavirus "social distancing" and it has been my companion on all my "exercise walks" for the past couple of weeks. What a marvellous book! I have been so absorbed in Cromwell's story that I felt I had lost a friend by the time I finished it and cried walking along the path at the end. The final interview between Hilary Mantel and the Narrator, Ben Miles, whose outstanding telling of this story took me right into the Court of Henry VII, added another dimension. Ben has truly inhabited the character of Cromwell and feels more familiar than my own family at this time of physical separation. I can't recommend this book highly enough - but if you haven't already heard the first two books in the trilogy I strongly suggest visiting them first. That way you live Cromwell's entire life through the series. This is a series I'm very sad to have concluded.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sylla
- 31-03-20
A perfect match between narrator and narrative
What else is there to say but that this is the most accomplished audio book I ever listened to? Mantel gives us an extraordinarily inspired and inspiring conclusion to the Wolf Hall trilogy with this book. And here her creation is served by the narrator with a level of authenticity and artistry that left me unable to imagine that it was not Cromwell himself speaking to me for the many hours of this book. It felt incredibly intimate and as a polyglot myself, I appreciated the accuracy of the Italian or French at times spoken with just the right English accent. Simply phenomenal.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jelena
- 15-07-20
Great imersion into the torn court of Henry VIII.
Masterfully narrated; the pace and recognizable character voices add a special charm. This is a slow burn that one wishes will go on and on.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Matt Mole
- 25-06-20
The best of the trilogy
I found this to be the best of the trilogy. Ben Miles is an excellent narrator and makes great use of the text. I still don’t enjoy the author’s style of writing probably because the constant use of memories and flashbacks stalls the progress of the story. That being said the historical research and characterization are faultless.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tim Pillar
- 04-10-20
beautifully written and performed
wonderful book and the ending is inspired performance is excellent and clear. highly recommended. a classic audio trilogy
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 03-10-20
Unputdownable and addictive
Redolent of time and place this third book in the Wolf Hall trilogy does not disappoint. Thomas Cromwell continues to evolve as a complex complicated man of his times. A political engine. He remains eternally likeable. Ben Miles is a remarkable actor and here as narrator of this tome he embraces all the characters of the story giving them each three dimensional characters I own the wolf hall books as hard copy and audiobooks. This one I began again as soon as it concluded the first time. Thank you Ms Mantell and Mr Miles. You have managed to make a man much reviled over time into a three dimensional figure who is eminently likeable human and fallible I can not recommend this and the rest of the trilogy more highly
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sylvia Davies
- 13-09-20
Brilliant
I feel as though I have been to a shakespearean performance on one hand, and immersed in the world of Cromwell with such wonderful language detail and understanding from his point of view. I love him as a man and have an increased understanding of life in those years. Superb writing and equally superb narrator. Thank you In fb HN
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kylie Ahern
- 04-09-20
Exceptional
I didn’t think the series could get better. Not a wasted word - everything she writes is so compelling. Ben Miles’ narration was exceptional. This book gave me an intense gaze into that period - the mindset, the politics, power plays just to stay in favour of a largely sociopathic ruler.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- MR CONOR CAHILL
- 03-09-20
Flawless
Superbly crafted final book in the series. One of the best narrated audiobooks that I've encountered, every character has their own, recognisable voice and tone. In particular, female characters are portrayed believably without the narrator putting on a 'high voice', a crime against listening that I've encountered far too frequently. The storytelling is superb and natural. Impossible to tell where history ends and fiction starts. Enjoyed every minute.