Rafe says, ‘It is harsh. To use the little girl against her mother.’ ‘Harsh, yes … but the question is, have you picked your prince? Because that is what you do, you choose him, and you know what he is. And then, when you have chosen, you say yes to him – yes, that is possible, yes, that can be done. If you don’t like Henry, you can go abroad and find another prince, but I tell you – if this were Italy, Katherine would be cold in her tomb.’
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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 created by Matt Brown. This week, we are reading Part Three. Chapter III. The Dead Complain of Their Burial, Christmastide 1530 and the first half of Part Four. Chapter I. Arrange Your Face, 1531.
UK Fourth Estate edition, pp. 272–305
US Picador, pp. 251–282
US Henry Holt, pp. 223–250 (guide only, editions vary)
Ben Miles audiobook, 10:17:16–11:30:47
First Line: The knocking at the gate comes after midnight.
Last Line: …because in the end we all come home to God.
This summary is followed by a few footnotes of interest.
This week, we pick our prince and sail down to the Palace of Placentia. We dream of our once and future kings, visit four queens, and make men talk in the Tower. We visit our misremembered past in the archive with Bea Stitches and consider the dangers of raising ghosts and interpreting dreams 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.
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