Thomas Cromwell

Up too late last night finishing Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. An excellent novel in the 1st person of Thomas Cromwell, son of a blacksmith in class-bound 16th century London, who became the trusted advisor to Henry VIII in the lead-up to the Reformation.

As an editor from way back, there is too much detail for me (600 pages), but for those who enjoy intricacies of plot and character, it's great. At times it is brilliant and intense. Historically, the story is just a few early years in Henry's reign, and we sort of know what happens next and how that transforms the history of western civilization. There may be a sequel, and I hope a movie - but the script-writer will need to do acrobatics to retain the brutal character and feeling the detail in the novel provides.