The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
This is the final instalment of Mantel’s novels about the life of Thomas Cromwell. The book starts and ends with an execution – beginning with execution of Anne Boleyn and ending with Cromwell’s own. It covers Henry’s marriages to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, and finally Cromwell’s downfall.
This isn’t for the faint hearted – its over 870 pages and I know people who have really struggled with it. All three books are detailed and well researched. I loved the Tudor world that Mantel creates – it completely draws you in. Of course there is no way of knowing if Thomas Cromwell was actually like that – all Mantel, or any historian, has to go on are letters and other accounts from the time.
What does come across is the volatile nature of the Tudor court and how quickly things can change and tumble out of control.
After the Party by Cressida Connolly
This book is set just before the start of the second world war. Phyllis has returned to England after a period of time in Europe. She lives near her sisters and gets involved in politics and a protest against the war.
When war breaks out Phyllis is arrested, along with a group of other women who have lose connections with the protest, and is sent to jail for over a year. Up until this point the book reminded me of “Downton Abbey” and I enjoyed the characters. It was interesting to see how Phyllis and the other women coped with prison. It was something about the war I knew nothing about.
Pixie Chronicles 