Wolf Crawl #35: Bone-pickers

‘But I shall counsel you, my lord, and I beg you to hear me out. You speak of new times and new engines. These engines may rust before you have wheeled them to the fight. Do not join battle with the noble families of England. You have lost before you ride out. Who are you? You are one man. Who follows you? Only carrion crows, bone-pickers. Do not stop moving, or they will eat you alive.’

last week | home page | reading schedule
further resources: Hilary Mantel | Wolf Hall

Welcome to Week 35 of 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 & 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

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, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, 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 by Matt Brown. This week, we read the second half of Part One. Chapter III. Wreckage (II). London, Summer 1536.

In the UK Fourth Estate edition, this section runs from pages 209 to 251. In the US Picador edition, it runs from pages 177 to 213. It begins, “As he walks into Austin Friars he meets Richard Cromwell.” It ends, “…waiting to see what he would do next.”

This summary is followed by a few footnotes of interest. It is a bad week for the eel boy, as we sink deep into Cromwell’s memories. We pass judgment on Wyatt’s poetry and read Henry’s annotations in Anne’s book of hours. There is music for murder and music for mourning, old wheels and new engines. And alas, in the archives with

Bea Stitches

, Uncle Norfolk is shouting… again.

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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