Aug 23

Aug 23 The Mirror and the Light (Thomas Cromwell, #3)

Author: Hilary Mantel
Publisher: Henry Holt (US Edition), 4th Estate (UK, pictured edition)
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

‘If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?’

England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, before Jane dies giving birth to the male heir he most craves.

Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him?

With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

TL;DR Review

The Mirror and the Light is a feat of a conclusion to the Thomas Cromwell trilogy. It feels more like Wolf Hall than Bring Up the Bodies, but the ending was really excellent.

For you if: You read Wolf Hall. The trilogy’s for you if you like literary historical fiction, especially that which takes place in Tudor England.

Full Review

“Seven Wise Men, he tells Gregory: here are their sayings. Moderation in all things, nothing to excess (those two are the same, wisdom can be repetitious). Know yourself. Know your opportunity. Look ahead. Don’t try for the impossible. And Bias of Priene: pleistoi anthropoi kakoi, most men are bad.”

It’s official, friends. I am now A Person Who Has Read the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy™️. While they weren’t my favorite genre, I did enjoy them, and I’m glad that I read them. Here I offer you some thoughts on this third book as well as thoughts on my trilogy overall.

Thoughts on The Mirror and the Light, specifically:

The Mirror and the Light picks up the very instant Bring Up the Bodies ended: with Anne Boleyn’s head rolling around on the ground, and Thomas Cromwell walking away from the execution. It continues to the end of his story.

This book wasn’t as fast-paced as Bring Up the Bodies; it felt a lot more like Wolf Hall. But at 900 or so pages, it’s an incredible work of historical fiction. Some sections were more interesting than others; I found myself engaged and not-so-engaged, back and forth and back and forth like a roller coaster.

I did really, really love the ending, though. Like the other two, I listened along with the audiobook as I read (which I definitely recommend to help you push through the slower moments), and it brought it all to life. At the time, I remember having the distinct thought: “That ending might have just made reading the entire trilogy worth it.” All of a sudden, the entire story and character she built crashed into sharp relief, and I realized how connected I’d come to feel with Thomas Cromwell. And the last few paragraphs absolutely sang.

Thoughts on the entire Thomas Cromwell trilogy:

OK so overall, this trilogy — and each book individually— is obviously an astounding accomplishment. They haven’t been nominated for zillions awards for nothing, and the first two won the Booker Prize (with the last one currently nominated).

That being said, they are not going to be for everyone. As many people have said, Bring Up the Bodies is definitely the most engaging of the three. They’re dense, and you have to like (or be amenable to) historical fiction. It will definitely help if you’re especially interested in Tudor England. I recommend picking them up if you a) really want to because of the subject matter and style, or b) really, really just want to be able to say that you read them (which is the camp I fell into myself).