The moment when his hat tumbles away across the courtyard is so, so chilling. It reminds me a bit of the moment when Cromwell sees a flash of Liz’s white cap in the corner of his eye, but there’s no one there when he turns around. Only this time, everyone is there: be-hatted and coldly standing around him. There’s an eerie feeling to it all that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, the brain slowly catching up with your body’s inner animal sense that something is very, very wrong. Ugh.
Oh, I like that callback to the white cap, Analise. We need to make a list of hats in this story: Henry's stray hat at Wolf Hall, Call-Me's singed feather in his cap, Chapuys flamboyant Christmas hat, the king's turban. And also Anne's French hood, and Jane's... ah, I've forgotten the name of her hood.
I was so shocked with the reading this week. The turn for Cromwell is much like SPOILER ALERT the death of Petya in War and Peace. You expect it for so long and then it springs up and surprises you. The themes of birds and sunlight in this section are heavy to bear. I was so distracted by the light, that I didn't notice the end creeping in. To be given a new title and then to be taken to the Tower.
I can't believe we're in the final weeks of this reading. Mantel has led us to a heartwrenching end.
It really is a masterful trick, isn't it? Despite knowing the history and seeing all the signs building, you still can't help but hope that this time it will turn out differently for Cromwell. Even having read it before I was surprised.
I found the exchange between Cromwell and Avery interesting. Even though Cromwell had just been promoted he was keen to set in motion his back up plans for money abroad. Avery in fact comments “ your lordship is talking as if your fortunes were reversed”. I think he was hoping that now he was made Earl “all is mended” but also very aware of how exposed he was if the king turned against him.
The speed of Cromwell’s fall, a mere 21 pages from the quote of the week to Cromwell being arrested. My head is spinning, my heart is pounding, some heartbreaking weeks ahead.
Well spotted. I did wonder though: he told Avery to make the money available to Jenneke. It is as though he does see himself in the clear now, and risks giving away his security. I suppose we will never know if he had money squirrelled away, or where it ended up.
Oh we knew it was coming but when it struck, Cromwell’s choreographed downfall left me low for a couple of days. He was (is) my hero, at least for these reading hours, even if he never deserved my hero worship. Simon, your ruminations around the plot are a treasure.
I didn't want to get to the end of this reading. I also didn't want to turn the page to find June and July 1540 waiting for me. It's strange, though, that the first time I read this I got to the end of the book, blinked out at the window, and discovered it was winter outside. I will be doing that again this time around, too.
It should be flaming June. But Cromwell later says the weather is wrong for the mood, so perhaps he would prefer us to be reading these last chapters in dark winter.
It’s another tour de force by Dame Hilary: to make us hope when everyone knows he’s doomed. Wonderful stuff, and somehow attuned to the chaos of today’s world, which our Dame cannot have foreseen (surely she couldn’t?!). I liked your Quote of the Week, Simon—I read it twice when I came to it, to feel its pace and excitement—but my QotW comes from a different mood. Gregory tries to console his father for the loss of his property west of London, and recommends St Aelred to him, some kind of medical holy man:
“Gregory says, ‘Take heart, my lord father. Not only was Aelred good for stomach pains, he was sovereign for broken bones. He made the dumb to speak.’
“He [Tom Essex] asks, ‘What did they say?’ “
That’s our man, always seeing what the point is, or should be, not cynical but realistic.
The moment when his hat tumbles away across the courtyard is so, so chilling. It reminds me a bit of the moment when Cromwell sees a flash of Liz’s white cap in the corner of his eye, but there’s no one there when he turns around. Only this time, everyone is there: be-hatted and coldly standing around him. There’s an eerie feeling to it all that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck, the brain slowly catching up with your body’s inner animal sense that something is very, very wrong. Ugh.
Oh, I like that callback to the white cap, Analise. We need to make a list of hats in this story: Henry's stray hat at Wolf Hall, Call-Me's singed feather in his cap, Chapuys flamboyant Christmas hat, the king's turban. And also Anne's French hood, and Jane's... ah, I've forgotten the name of her hood.
I was so shocked with the reading this week. The turn for Cromwell is much like SPOILER ALERT the death of Petya in War and Peace. You expect it for so long and then it springs up and surprises you. The themes of birds and sunlight in this section are heavy to bear. I was so distracted by the light, that I didn't notice the end creeping in. To be given a new title and then to be taken to the Tower.
I can't believe we're in the final weeks of this reading. Mantel has led us to a heartwrenching end.
Distracted by the light is a good way of putting it. Mantel makes us think against reason that it is all going to be OK.
It really is a masterful trick, isn't it? Despite knowing the history and seeing all the signs building, you still can't help but hope that this time it will turn out differently for Cromwell. Even having read it before I was surprised.
I found the exchange between Cromwell and Avery interesting. Even though Cromwell had just been promoted he was keen to set in motion his back up plans for money abroad. Avery in fact comments “ your lordship is talking as if your fortunes were reversed”. I think he was hoping that now he was made Earl “all is mended” but also very aware of how exposed he was if the king turned against him.
The speed of Cromwell’s fall, a mere 21 pages from the quote of the week to Cromwell being arrested. My head is spinning, my heart is pounding, some heartbreaking weeks ahead.
Well spotted. I did wonder though: he told Avery to make the money available to Jenneke. It is as though he does see himself in the clear now, and risks giving away his security. I suppose we will never know if he had money squirrelled away, or where it ended up.
Absolutely... What a turn-around... Even though you know what's coming, you don't expect it quite THEN...
Oh we knew it was coming but when it struck, Cromwell’s choreographed downfall left me low for a couple of days. He was (is) my hero, at least for these reading hours, even if he never deserved my hero worship. Simon, your ruminations around the plot are a treasure.
It's such a blow. We've been riding high all year with our hero, surviving and scrapes and flying higher.
It left me low, too. I even took notice of him impatiently racking people - thinking that cruelty would make the end a bit easier on me. No luck.
I didn't want to get to the end of this reading. I also didn't want to turn the page to find June and July 1540 waiting for me. It's strange, though, that the first time I read this I got to the end of the book, blinked out at the window, and discovered it was winter outside. I will be doing that again this time around, too.
It should be flaming June. But Cromwell later says the weather is wrong for the mood, so perhaps he would prefer us to be reading these last chapters in dark winter.
I never did like Call Me. Always had his eye on the prize
Right? He's somehow worse than Riche for it.
It’s another tour de force by Dame Hilary: to make us hope when everyone knows he’s doomed. Wonderful stuff, and somehow attuned to the chaos of today’s world, which our Dame cannot have foreseen (surely she couldn’t?!). I liked your Quote of the Week, Simon—I read it twice when I came to it, to feel its pace and excitement—but my QotW comes from a different mood. Gregory tries to console his father for the loss of his property west of London, and recommends St Aelred to him, some kind of medical holy man:
“Gregory says, ‘Take heart, my lord father. Not only was Aelred good for stomach pains, he was sovereign for broken bones. He made the dumb to speak.’
“He [Tom Essex] asks, ‘What did they say?’ “
That’s our man, always seeing what the point is, or should be, not cynical but realistic.