Wolf Hall cover art

Wolf Hall

The Wolf Hall Trilogy, Book 1

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Wolf Hall

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Ben Miles
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £19.91

Buy Now for £19.91

Listen to the exciting new rendition of Wolf Hall, read by Ben Miles who was personally cast by the author and played Thomas Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. The winner of the Man Booker Prize and captivating first book in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy.

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.

"Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good." DAILY MAIL

"Our most brilliant English writer." GUARDIAN

Shortlisted for the Golden Man Booker Prize. Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Royalty Funny Witty England Middle Ages
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
The best literary experience of my life to date, read or listened to. Extraordinary. I finished book 3 and went right back to the start of the trilogy

Mesmerising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Do try to make the time and read and/or listen to ‘Wolf Hall’. My paper copy of ‘Wolf Hall’ has sat on my shelves since 2009. I reasoned it was an important book and needed to be read. The size of the public and critics’ acclaim for the novel, however, tended to put me off reading it long back then. I also bought the Simon SIater voiced audio-book and that did not hit the spot for me, so the book remained unread and un-heard. Only in 2021 did I choose to read and listen and it felt so right, and deeply enjoyed it. I say ‘enjoyed’ which is odd to say given the plot and the history that most all know. What I found was rare for me in a book; I felt that I was being dragged as if by a powerful magnet through it. Almost against my will. The performance of the later audiobook with Ben Miles contributed to the experience massively. He fits the book (and dramatisations) so well. Cromwell if nothing if not an enigma. I kept asking myself, why with your brain can’t you see it best to flee and get far away? Cromwell’s care for his own and his care for some others was a helpful take on things for me. Having been steeped since the 1970s on an image of Thomas More of the Robert Bolt interpretation, Mantel’s More was a helpful adjustment. Mantel’s narrative is rich and involving her words given to others so well placed in their mouths. If I have any quibble it is managing to keep the characters and their relationships (blood and other) in my head. This is my weakness. I appreciated that Mantel ensures that Cromwell fails to see some things close to him, and loved the last few paragraphs of the book. They answered the question I had been asking throughout. Some readers/listeners may not like the way the Cromwell is referenced as ‘he’ in the narrative. It does makes full sense and rings true. Now read, I am still puzzling over the book. It deserves it.

Simply and Totally Magnetic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A most incredible accomplishment by Hilary Mantel, turned into a supreme drama by Ben Miles

Supreme

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I couldn’t wait to listen to this book, and it did not disappoint. I’d highly recommend it.
The swallowing noises mentioned by many didn’t affect my enjoyment at all. I only noticed because I was aware of them through other reviews.
I’d watched the BBC’s Wolf Hall and thought I couldn’t bear to hear someone else playing Thomas Cromwell, but no! This edition was perfect for me and his (Ben Miles) voice is the voice of Cromwell for me also. I can’t wait to start pushing up the bodies straight away, with no pauses!
Many thanks Ms Hilary Mantel, for a superb book!

Wonderful!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very insightful and thought provoking. I thought King Henry sounded very weak voiced, but that would be up to the narrator, who I thought was first class. A great story, thoroughly recommend this title.

First Class

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews