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 | Further Resources
Welcome to Wolf Crawl. I am your guide,
, and this is a year-long slow read of Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror & the Light.Each week, I dive into the detail, with summaries, background, footnotes and tangents to enrich your reading. I am joined on this journey by
, 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, The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell, and Hilary Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety.
I start each post with a summary of the week’s story illustrated by a map created by Matt Brown. This week, we are reading the first half of Part Two. Chapter II. An Occult History of Britain, 1521–1529.
In the UK Fourth Estate edition, this section runs from pages 65–107. In the US Picador edition, it runs from pages 60–99. 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.
To get these posts in your inbox or the Substack app, subscribe to Footnotes and Tangents and turn on notifications for ‘2025 Wolf Crawl’ in your subscription settings.
