The Mirror and the Light

A Complete Guide to Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & the Light

This guide was first published in 2024 as part of the 2024 Wolf Crawl slow read of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Trilogy. It will be updated with the latest posts during the 2025 slow read. Read more about that book group here.

#1 Wreckage (I)

Wolf Crawl #30: The Damascene cat

#2 Salvage (Part 1/3)

Wolf Crawl #31: Never look back

Bonus: Meet me, Cremuel. Let us dine. by Andrea

#3 Salvage (Part 2/3)

Wolf Crawl #32: To the underworld

Bonus: A Cannibal Glint in his Eyes by Andrea

#4 Salvage (Part 3/3)

Wolf Crawl #33: The dead do not negotiate

#5 Wreckage (II) (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #34: No smoke without fire

Bonus: Eat up the strawberries! by Andrea

#6 Wreckage (II) (Part 2/2)

Wolf Crawl #35: Bone-pickers

Bonus: Who will cook my supper, Tom? by Andrea

#7 Augmentation

Wolf Crawl #36: Matters that corrupt

#8 The Five Wounds

Wolf Crawl #37: Strange to himself

Bonus: Bread or Blood by Andrea
Bonus: Come in, old ghost

#9 Vile Blood (1/2)

Wolf Crawl #38: The king's body

#10 Vile Blood (2/2)

Wolf Crawl #39: No way forward

Bonus: His Meal lies heavy by Andrea

#11 The Bleach Fields

Wolf Crawl #40: A list of his sins

Bonus: 'It tastes better than it looks' by Andrea

#12 The Image of the King (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #41: The dead watch us

Bonus: 'Naught but yellow and white' by Andrea

#13 The Image of the King (Part 2/2) & Broken on the Body

Wolf Crawl #42: So many words

#14 Nonsuch

Wolf Crawl #43: The dogs of London

Bonus: Hang on through the Season of Marzipan by Andrea

#15 Corpus Christi (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #44: Bone-weary

#16 Corpus Christi (Part 2/2) & Inheritance

Wolf Crawl #45: Goodnight Master Cromwell

#17 Ascension Day (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #46: Old enemies

#18 Ascension Day (Part 2/2)

Wolf Crawl #47: Eel boy, are you tired of life?

Bonus: Send Thurston up! by Andrea

#19 Twelfth Night

Wolf Crawl #48: The longest night

Bonus: A Pudding for a penny by Andrea

#20 Magnificence (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #49: Roll back time

#21 Magnificence (Part 2/2)

Wolf Crawl #50: What light there is

Bonus: The Dishes leap by Andrea

#22 Mirror (Part 1/2)

Wolf Crawl #51: Mercy

#23 Mirror (Part 2/2) & Light

Wolf Crawl #52: And now no more

Bonus post: Magic and religion by Nikki
Bonus post: Vile blood by Nikki
Bonus post: The flow of information by Nikki
Bonus post: Alternative futures by Nikki
Bonus post: Fatherhood by Nikki