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  • Wolf Hall

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Hilary Mantel
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (135 ratings)

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Wolf Hall

Written by: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's Summary

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe oppose him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum and a deadlock.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. The son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a bully, and a charmer, Cromwell has broken all the rules of a rigid society in his rise to power and is preparing to break some more. Rising from personal disaster - the loss of his young family and of Wolsey, his beloved patron - he picks his way deftly through a court where man is wolf to man. Pitting himself against parliament, the political establishment, and the papacy, he is prepared to reshape England to his own and Henry’s desires.

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, Wolf Hall recreates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2009 Hilary Mantel (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd.

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What listeners say about Wolf Hall

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At Last

Why a 10 year wait for an audio version? Narrator is Simon Slater, NOT SIMON VANCE. Slater is excellent.

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11 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Cannot Stand the Narration

I abandoned it very early on. I tried a few times but there is just no flow.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't Hate, Didn't Love

I had high hopes for this audiobook and I typically enjoy any novel set in Tudor England; however, I just found this a little too hard to follow. Timeline and characters all seemed to blend together. Perhaps this would be a novel better read than listened to.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Wolf Hall struggles

Struggled with this, started reading it but too many characters to keep track of (which normally isn't a problem). Audio version was easier but I don't feel inclined to read books 2 and 3.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Performance Over-Powered the Story

The performance intonation when done right, was done overdone. The narrator should not take the stage. But should instead support and blend behind the story. Sorry, but I’m returning this audiobook and I’m buying the written book.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Not Simon Vance

I had previously read the book which in my opinion was a five star book. When I saw Simon Vance was narrating this book I had to get it. except it's not Simon and the narrator made it feel like a two star book. I quit listening after chapter 3.

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excellent

great narrator, sublime writing, interesting plot... what more could you want? definitely deserves the Booker.

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Amazing Tale of Tudor Politics and Family Life

Loved it! as a Tudor girlie I knew what was coming but that just made the tension better.

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Great Book

He's a fascinating man who left his mark on the world, made doubly famous by

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Halfway it stopped being a slog to became gripping

This ended up being a fascinating book, I was suprised how many notable characters I dimly knew of, but this book had such a long list of personae that it got a tad confusing. (Thank God for Wiki, I kept delving in to work out which Earl, which Thomas which Anne was being discussed in what felt like a cast of hundreds).

I found the narrator a tad disappointing, and flat. I could not differentiate the male voices (as for Cardinal Wolsey - the cadence was like a too floaty/whinny. It was so irritating way).

This is not a passionate book (if you wish for one set in this historical period, and need more description I strongly recommend "Hamnet & Judith") but I did become interested in the political machinations around the first divorce of Henry VIII, the beginnings of the political reformation in England, and the disillusion of the monestries. I was definitely more educated when I finished this book.

I still could not work out how an abused son of a blacksmith became the towering lawyer figure that was Thomas Cromwell, (it was often mentioned, but not adequately explained) but the imagination used to visulalize the scenes between the characters and create intimate scenes that seemed so real. Stunning.

Fun fact, this is all done in present tense, which does help haul you along. Not sure if I will read the sequel.

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