Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel · 1952–2022 · England
Why it matters
Thomas Cromwell engineers Anne Boleyn's downfall with the same cold competence he brought to her rise. The second volume of Mantel's trilogy, and her second consecutive Booker Prize winner.
At a glance
historical fiction
Difficulty 7/10medium pace411 pagesContinues Wolf Hall's dense present-tense, ambiguous-pronoun method with a huge Tudor cast.
Deep dive
Why Mantel narrates Thomas Cromwell's court maneuvering entirely from inside his own calculations — competence and old grudges so tangled together that the reader can't cleanly condemn either.
Where to go next
Hilary Mantel · 2009Wolf HallLvl 7Medium pace
Linda Grant · 2000When I Lived in Modern TimesLvl 5Medium pace
J. G. Farrell · 1973The Siege of KrishnapurLvl 5Medium pace
Pat Barker · 1991RegenerationLvl 4Medium pace
Penelope Lively · 1987Moon TigerLvl 6Medium pace
Michael Ondaatje · 1992The English PatientLvl 7Slow burn