A masterpiece of historical fiction
From the razor-sharp opening paragraph to the dramatic ending 863 pages later, Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror & The Light is superb, right to the last crimson drop.
The portrait of Thomas Cromwell that started with Wolf Hall (2009) and continued with Bring Up the Bodies (2012) — both Booker Prize-winning novels — concludes with another masterpiece of historical fiction. The Mirror & The Light opens with the execution of Anne Boleyn in May 1536. She was killed by a hired Frenchman, who used a sword made of Toledo steel from Spain.
Cromwell is in his early fifties by the time of Anne’s death. As Lord Privy Seal, deputy head of the church in England and chief minister, he is left to organise a new Queen and maintain English power in Europe, while outmanoeuvring enemies close at home. Mantel’s depiction of royal court intrigue is excellent. She captures the atmosphere of a place choking on itself, where councillors take turns at being humiliated.
The trilogy, set in such an accessible period for historical fiction, has deservedly struck a real chord with the reading public — and this concluding instalment has understated messages for our own era of conflict and unbridled ambition. The Mirror & The Light takes place from 1536 to 1540, a time of rebellion, when “England is collapsing in on itself, like a house of straw”. Henry worries that Europe regards England as “low-hanging fruit, exhausted game”.
The Mirror & the Light is another shrewd character portrait of Cromwell, and it is also a complex, insightful exploration of power, sex, loyalty, friendship, religion, class and statecraft. A single reading hardly seems sufficient to grasp the intricate treasures of Mantel’s novel — but it is enough to know for sure that The Mirror & the Light is a stunning conclusion to one of the great trilogies of our times.
— The Independent
