The Mirror & the Light: A Novel

764 pages5 starsThis is both a remarkable and entertaining book.The third book in a trilogy about the life and times of Thomas Cromwell. Raised up from his blacksmith/brewer's son beginnings, through his travels in Italy and elsewhere on the continent to the very heights of King Henry VIII's court. Protege of and successor to Cardinal Wolsey. Lord Privy Seal. Second only to the king - Vicegerent. Member of the prestigious Order of the Garter open to only twenty-five men in the realm. Earl of Essex, made so shortly before his death.The book begins with the aftermath of Queen Anne's death and flashes back to previous time to fill in Cromwell’s life and quarrels with Anne, his friends and his awful home life as a child. The book talks about Walter, Cromwell’s father and the terrible temper he had and how he was very mean to his children. It discusses his now deceased wife and daughters, his nephew Richard and his adoption of Rafe and his relationship with his son Gregory. His relationships with women – great and common.The Pilgrimage of Grace is covered. Next is the marriage of the king to Jane Seymour, the subsequent birth of a son and the tragic death of Queen Jane. The book continues to cover the disastrous liaison with Anna of Cleves which was instigated by Thomas.Thomas must walk a fine line between those who would destroy him (for they are mostly jealous), and the all powerful mercurial temperament of the king.Thomas had a vision of the future that was far beyond the understanding of those around him.Ms. Mantel paints a very real, colorful and comprehensive picture of the 16th Century court of Henry VIII. The reader is stalking the palaces and the streets along with the characters in the book. While he certainly looked out for himself, he was also compassionate. He “saved” people from the king's displeasure or even certain death. These actions turned out to be to his detriment later in his life when those who were jealous and the king being tired of him took against him.It still surprises and confounds me (although it shouldn't, having read as much about Henry VIII as I have), how quickly the king would turn against a person. Was it his knock on the head during his jousting accident, or his bad leg that tormented him so much that he acted so unpredictably? We'll never know.“I should only ever tell the king what he ought to do, not what he could do. For if a lion knows his own strength, no man could control him.” – Thomas More

I must agree with other reviewers. The quality of the pages is downright shabby. After reading and enjoying both previous books, I very much looked forward to this one. Two previous won Booker Prize! Gave it five stars in anticipation of what surely will be an excellent read. BUT...after reading the first 100+ pages, I find myself distracted unnecessarily. My clip on bookmark has damaged several pages. Possibly this was done to mitigate the size/weight of this very large book. Or publisher's cost savings? I would've preferred dealing with a larger edition and more substantial pages. Other books in the series are not like this. Will soldier on and update a content review when I complete the read which, I am certain, will outweigh the annoyance.And now an update...I slogged through to the end because I'd grown to love Cremuel in the first two books. He was transformed into a compelling and almost heroic hero. Certainly not the villain as he's been portrayed in history. Mantel paints vivid pictures of Cromwell's life and his myriad duties. We get detailed pictures of Cromwell and Henry VIII. While it cannot be denied that Mantel's writing is extraordinary, this is a huge 912 page read! The length was, of course, justified by the number of events it covers. At times, it was overly dense with detail and I found myself trudging along and hoping there'd be places where I could dare to scan through some pages. But it spite of it all, every volume is a fantastic work of literary fiction. Worth the read but not nearly as easy a read as the books' two predecessors. Knowing how the protagonist will meet his inevitable end did not doom the enjoyment of the story of Tudor intrigues for me. A life well lived. Crowell never knew what would come next even though the reader does.

I wonder if after Hilary Mantel (deservedly) won major awards with her first two Thomas Cromwell books, her editors decided to let her do whatever she wanted with the third book…because this felt like it was in desperate need of an editor. Way too much time was spent flashing back to events that had already been covered in previous books (or even previous chapters), adding little tweaks and fine-tuning details but mostly making the book feel a bit bloated and self-indulgent.That said, Cromwell’s sense of paranoia and desperation as enemies close in was masterfully written. After all of Cromwell’s brutal pragmatism and self-serving manipulation (even if the author puts the best possible face on it), his ultimate downfall felt well-deserved. You reap what you sow.Overall, if you’re interested in the Tudor era or court intrigue this trilogy is well worth your time. There are definitely some stylistic quirks, but Mantel excels at giving the sense that these were real people with both flaws and virtues.

I wanted to buy this as a Kindle, but it wasn't available. I found the print hard to read. I think it was a combination of the paper quality and the serifed font. Ultimately, I had to buy it as an ebook from another source in order to read it. However, I love this trilogy and this third volume does not disappoint. I look forward to more (Kindle) books from this author.

5 stelle per diversi motivi: consegnato prima del previsto, conforme a quanto descritto e con carattere leggibili senza fatica. Un romanzo che può appassionare, ben scritto .L'ultimo di una trilogia. Riguardo i primi due volumi ho visto la versione cinematografica della BBC, comprato sempre con Amazon. Una sorpresa gradita con attori convincenti.

Chegou rápido e perfeito

There is no way to do this book (or in fact, all three books of the trilogy) justice in a simple post. I am in awe of the world Hilary Mantel has created, of the distinct Cromwell voice that keeps on talking in my head. I knew I’d love this book, and I knew I’d struggle with it. She doesn’t spare the reader, and I needed to take a break halfway through it, but I wouldn’t have stopped for anything in the world.I more or less know my way around the Tudor era. Elizabeth I. has fascinated me since I was a teenager, but her father, Henry VIII., made me find my limits. There it is again, the sheer banality of evil, of an incompetent man with too much power. (Also, how did he manage to find several more wives after beheading first Anne Boleyn and then Catherine Howard, the clueless girl?)But by no means did I read this for Henry. I read it for Cromwell, and what a story it was.I might go back to it, someday in the far distance, but for now, I’m in dire need of something much lighter.

This third volume of the Hilary Mantel’s great masterpiece on the life & times of Thomas Cromwell, who rose from a modest birth to become one of Henry VIII's principal court councillors is once again full of intrigue and excitement.A deeply satisfying & rewarding read it reveals the viciousness of the past English monarchy & its abject decadence. The present English kingdom whose roots are completely entwined in the former ones (a duke of Norfolk still exists as I write) deserves to be examined carefully. This work of literature may help! It is high time this vile caste system is abolished as well as the disgusting appropriation of wealth it survives on. All it does is is to perpetuate the immoral disparity of incomes in what is supposed to be a democracy.The trilogy also illustrates beautifully how we humans will go to extreme actions to promote whatever religion we believe in. Often, in so doing, disregarding the very essence of the creed we adhere to. This remains, unfortunately, a current theme in our present so-called humanist world…I hope Mantel wins another Booker prize as she did with each of the first two volumes. She deserves it!There are many lessons to be learned from these books, and the prose transports the reader back to early Tudor times with the ceremonies of the court, the corruption of its members & the ways of its nasty reformation.

This grand finale to the Cromwell trilogy is just superb. While the first two volumes told us the story of Cromwell's rise in rather fast-paced plots, this is slow and quite poetic. This is about the fall of the tragic hero. Mantel makes Cromwell a tragic hero, a man whose tragic flaw brought him down. He rose higher than the king himself. The story is told with amazing dexterity. The history of the time comes alive in this bulky novel. Give it time and you'll relish it. It's not a potboiler.