Bring Up the Bodies is haunted by the
events of Wolf Hall, and the spirits
it freed from flesh. The novel picks up shortly after Wolf Hall’s ending, reuniting readers with Thomas Cromwell, as he
continues to rise in favor at court. Master Secretary has a new mission, but
his objectives are still the same: to please the mercurial Henry VIII and to
navigate court intrigues. Mantel continues to put readers in the thick of the
action, locating them in the mind of her protagonist, where they can see that
the tasks put to him weigh heavily on his conscious. For, despite his rise to
prominence, Cromwell is anything but secure. An understanding of his own
mortality burdens Cromwell’s mind; he knows that one false move can spell death
for even the most prominent of nobles, so even the slightest, most innocent
mistake ensures certain doom for a commoner upstart, like Thomas Cromwell.
As the
events of Bring Up the Bodies often
intersect with the climactic events of Wolf
Hall, I recommend that those who are interested in reading Wolf Hall, but have yet to do so, do not
read the synopsis that follows this paragraph. For a critical analysis, and
final opinions about Bring up the Bodies,
please skip the sections located between the asterisks.
************
The
king and his entourage, including Cromwell, have arrived at Wolf Hall, country
home of the Seymour family, and, most importantly, of their daughter, Jane. The
king’s summer travels have, at times, removed him from the company of Queen
Anne. Cromwell recognizes that the rift between king and queen has slowly
increased, and that the king’s eyes often linger on plain Jane Seymour.
After
returning to court, the king continues to distance himself from Anne. His old
fears – that his marriage is somehow invalid, that God refuses to give him a
male heir because he lives in sin with his wife – have returned, and he
consults with Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer, the architects of Katherine’s
downfall and Anne’s subsequent rise to the throne. Cromwell’s newest task for
his king is to find a way for the king to escape his marriage with Anne.
In
order to achieve his task, Cromwell must orchestrate a new alliance, with
noblemen and women that have been his natural enemies since his precipitous
rise to power. He must join with the Duke of Suffolk, the Poles, and other
papist nobles. Their only common cause is that they would all see Anne removed
from the throne. While his new allies would see Anne removed from the throne, so
that the country can move towards reconciliation with Rome, and so that
Katherine’s daughter, Mary, can return to the line of succession, Cromwell has
his own motives. For Cromwell, Anne represents an immediate threat, not only to
his current prosperity, but also to his life. Cromwell knows the extent to
which Anne contributed to the fall and execution of Thomas More, a death that
still haunts his conscience. He feels that Anne has soured towards him, and he
still harbors a deeper resentment towards her. Cromwell still blames Anne for
the death of his mentor and benefactor, Cardinal Wolsey.
As
events unfold, Cromwell finds that he may be able to have his revenge, and
achieve justice for the late cardinal. Events unfold fortuitously, and Cromwell
finds that he may be able to bring down others, four courtiers who mocked the
cardinal shortly after his death, as well as the Queen.
Cromwell’s
meticulous politicking brings him greater success as the novel progresses. He
finds himself raised to higher honors than ever before, and he is able to place
close friends in high places, to further secure his position at court. Yes,
Cromwell’s power is peaking. He has achieved a status that he, and none of
England’s nobles, would ever have dreamed possible for the son of a blacksmith.
He will need every bit of that power to survive the ever increasing hostility
he faces from the factions at court and to navigate the increasingly intricate
intrigues of Henry VIII’s court.
************
Mantel
has delivered another rousing success, one that is as equally deserving of its
Booker Prize for Fiction as its predecessor was deserving of the award that it
garnered. Mantel’s subtle, yet remarkable depictions of scene and setting bring
readers to a seat at every desk, where they sit with Cromwell as he conducts
his business. The court comes to life beneath her pen, and Cromwell’s trials,
trepidations, and fears become readers’ trials, trepidations, and fears as
well. Characters are as well defined as ever, and, in this second go-around,
they become even more life-like than they were in Wolf Hall. Mantel has learned from some of the mistakes that she
made in Wolf Hall, where, at times,
it was possible to lose the speaker in a conversation. Here, she has added more
clarity to her dialogue, enabling a reader to always identify the speaker of a
particular sentence. Mantel continues to make even mundane court intrigues, pedestrian
discussions, and politicking exciting. The novel is a must read, it can stand
on its own without the prop provided by Wolf
Hall, but any reader would benefit from reading the novels in succession.
JCM
2 February 2013
