Katherine of Aragon, Henry’s queen of twenty years, is now living in her own court with her daughter Mary, her marriage to Henry having been annulled in 1533, while Henry was living with Anne Boleyn. He will have plenty of work to do over the next seven or eight months. Thomas Cromwell, who prosecuted More on behalf of the king, is now Henry’s chief minister, firmly ensconced in the power structure of the Tudor Court. As she opens this novel, a continuation of that story, set just three months later, More’s downfall is still fresh in the minds of everyone at Henry’s court. In her previous novel, Wolf Hall, author Hilary Mantel, recreates the dramatic story of Sir Thomas More’s trial and execution in July, 1535, during the reign of King Henry VIII. They are brought in by armed guards through a fulminating crowd shouting the odds they live or die…The does not understand the law…There is only one penalty for high treason: for a man, to be hanged, cut down alive and eviscerated, or for a woman, to be burned.” “The order goes to the Tower, ‘Bring up the bodies.’ Deliver, that is, the accused men…to Westminster Hall for trial…It is 12 May, a Friday. Note: This book is WINNER of the Man Booker Prize for 2012 and WINNER of the Costa Award for 2012.
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