Sir Thomas’s face has drained; the scarlet spots have vanished from his cheeks, and he is almost fainting with rage. As he quits the room, he whispers, ‘Butcher’s boy’ And as he passes the clerk – whose beefy hand lies idly on his desk – he sneers, ‘Butcher’s dog.’
Last Week | Home Page | Reading Schedule | Next Week
Welcome to Wolf Crawl. I am your guide, Simon Haisell, and this is a year-long slow read of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light.
Each week, I dive into the details, with summaries, background, footnotes and tangents to enrich your reading. I am joined on this journey by Bea Stitches, who delves into the archive on our behalf, and Matt Brown, who makes maps to help us find our way through Cromwell’s world.
You can find the reading schedule and plot summaries for the full cast of characters on my website, Footnotes and Tangents. There, you can join other slow reads, including Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie and Pat Barker’s Regeneration.
I start each post with a summary of the week’s story, illustrated by a map by Matt Brown. This week, we are reading the first half of Part Two. Chapter II. An Occult History of Britain, 1521–1529.
UK Fourth Estate edition, pp. 65–107
US Picador, pp. 60–99
US Henry Holt, pp. 53–89 (guide only, editions vary)
Ben Miles audiobook, 02:17:00–03:57:55
It begins, “Once, in the days of time immemorial …” It ends, “All the rivers run to the sea, but the seas are not yet full.”
This summary is followed by a few footnotes of interest. This week, we look at the themes of stories and the occult, the history of Britain, the sweating sickness and Cromwell’s dark secrets. We then meet the plague in the archives with Bea Stitches, and confront our false memories in The haunting of Wolf Hall. We close with my favourite quote of the week.
And then it is over to you. In the comments, let us know what caught your eye and ask the group any questions you may have. And if you’ve tumbled down a rabbit hole or taken your reading off on a tangent, please share where you have been and what you have found.
Turn on notifications for “2026 Wolf Crawl” in your subscription settings to get weekly reminders linking to these posts in your inbox or the Substack App.
