Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel presents exclusively at BorderKitchen the sequel to Wolf Hall: The Book of Henry.

Wolf Hall was the fascinating, thick novel with which Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, also becoming the best-selling winner in the history of the prize. The novel centres on Thomas Cromwell, long the right-hand man of Henry VIII. Cromwell has always been a mysterious and controversial figure, in contrast to his rival, the utopian Thomas More. In Wolf Hall, the roles are reversed: Cromwell has the nobler profile, while More shows the unsettling traits of a fanatic. The novel ends with More’s execution; in the years leading up to it, Henry VIII has broken with Rome and founded his own church. His first marriage has been annulled, and his new wife is Anne Boleyn.

Then The Book of Henry begins. Henry’s actions have isolated England, and Anne is unable to produce a male heir to secure the Tudor line. Cromwell watches as the king falls for yet another woman, Jane Seymour, thereby endangering the stability of the country. It is Cromwell’s task, amid court intrigue, gossip and sexual politics, to engineer a solution that satisfies Henry and secures his own position. That solution is the bloody downfall of Anne Boleyn.

The facts of the Tudor dynasty are well known, but how it happened and what it reveals is the fascinating territory of historical fiction, which Hilary Mantel explores here with mastery. And although Cromwell triumphs in The Book of Henry, the reader knows that his final chapter is also approaching — the book with which Mantel will complete her trilogy.

Hilary Mantel is one of the most important contemporary authors. She has written many novels, including A Place of Greater Safety, Giving Up the Ghost and Beyond Black. With Wolf Hall and The Book of Henry she shows herself at the height of her powers. Mantel will be interviewed at BorderKitchen by Liddie Austin (Red).

Location: Gemeentemuseum (auditorium), Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague
Start time: 8:00 PM
Tickets: €7.50
Reservations via: 070-3462355 (Mon–Fri) or info@BorderKitchen.nl

“The novelist has the maddeningly unteachable gift of being interesting.” – The New Yorker