Wolf Hall ReadAlong Parts 1 and 2

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Henry Holt and Company, 2010

On my Nook

Part I Golden Lines

"If you cannot find him a son," he says, "you must find him a piece of scripture.  To ease his mind."

The cardinal appears to be looking for it, on his desk.  "Well, Deuteronomy.  Which positively recommends that a man should marry his deceased brother's wife.  As he did."  The cardinal sighs.  "But he doesn't like Deuteronomy."

Useless to say, why not?  Useless to suggest that, if  Deuteronomy orders you to marry your brother's relict, and Leviticus says don't, or you will not breed, you should try to live with the contradiction, and accept that the question of which takes priority was thrashed out in Rome, for a fat fee, by leading prelates, twenty years ago when the dispensations were issued, and delivered under papal seal.

"I don't see why he takes Leviticus to heart.  He has a daughter living."

"But I think it is generally understood, in the scriptures, that 'children' means 'sons.'"

Part II Golden Lines

"Men say," Liz reaches for her scissors, "'I can't endure it when women cry' - just as people say, 'I can't endure this wet weather.' As if it were nothing to do with the men at all, the crying.  Just one of those things that happen."

"I've never made you cry, have I?"

"Only with laughter," she says.

Conversation fades into an easy silence; she is embroidering her own thoughts, he is plotting what to do with his money.  He is supporting two young scholars, not belonging to the family, through Cambridge University; the gift blesses the giver.  I could increase those endowments, he thinks, and - "I suppose I should make a will," he says.

She reaches out for his hand, "Tom, don't die."

"Good God, no, I'm not proposing it."

My Impression of the Story so Far

I'm a Tudor England fanatic, so I was drawn to this readalong without question...and it hasn't disappointed me yet.

The story, unlike many others set in this time period, is told from Thomas Cromwell's point of view and is more about Cromwell than Henry VIII.  I love this aspect of it simply for that reason...it's another perspective, another side to the story, another look at history to see how it all came together.  This is not a story, however, that can be skimmed.  I've had to pay very close attention to names, dates, the provided family tree, etc. to understand all the connections between people, families and events.  

Wolf Hall is specifically about Thomas Cromwell himself...his early life, his dysfunctional childhood with an alcoholic father, his decision to leave home at 15 rather than be killed by his father and how he supported himself for the next part of his life.  Thomas was incredibly smart, a fighter, picked up on things easily, and specifically was a whiz with numbers.  He came home eventually, a made man and became a trusted, vital part of the business end of Cardinal Wolsey.  Cardinal Wolsey was, for a time, King Henry VIII's most influential adviser.  The tide turns for Wolsey when King Henry decides he wants a divorce from Wife #1 Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn, and he's willing to break England away from the Roman Catholic Church in order to get what he wants.  King Henry essentially tells Wolsey to get his divorce...or else.  Cromwell then has to stand by and watch his mentor fall from grace because of the impossible whims of the King.  

Thomas Cromwell was a good man.  The love he showed his family and others who needed him are things I didn't know before this novel.  He was a fighter and a survivor and seemed to have it all at one point.  Unfortunately each year all London families fought the sweating sickness, and many were lost quickly...Cromwell's household doesn't escape death either.  Thomas was able to overcome his traumatic childhood in order to have a happy, stable family...only to lose it again.  This is where I believe Cromwell begins to cut himself off emotionally from everyone and everything...that Cromwell is the one most well known during the Tudor era...or the one that is legendary.  I'm looking forward to more of this author's in depth look into the life of Thomas Cromwell during the Reformation.


This ReadALong is a joint endeavor of Natalie @ Coffee and a Book Chick and Nicole @ Linus's Blanket

Book Review - Affinity

Affinity by Sarah Waters

Riverhead Books, 1999

Oversized Paperback, 402 pages

Why? Estella's Revenge Affinity ReadALong

What Now?  Donating to the library

Golden Lines:

I wish that Pa was with me now.  I would ask him how he would start to write the story  I have embarked upon to-day.  I would ask him how he would neatly tell the story of a prison - of Millbank Prison - which has so many separate lives in it, and is so curious a shape, and must be approached, so darkly, through so many gates and twisting passages. pg. 8

One time, two years ago, I took a draught of morphia, meaning to end my life.  My mother found me before the life was ended, the doctor drew the poison from my stomach with a syringe, and when I woke, it was to the sound of my own weeping.  For I had hoped to open my eyes on Heaven, where my father was; and they had only pulled me back to Hell.  'You were careless with your life,' Selina said to me a month ago, ' but now I have it." - I knew then what I had been saved for.  pg. 321

Summary:

After Margaret Pryor's father's death, she had what seemed to be a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide. Her mother saved her at the last minute.  Margaret's mother, her brother Stephen and his wife Helen (who also used to be a very close friend to Margaret), and her childish sister Pris who is busy with wedding preparations all try to go on with their lives as if nothing has ever happened.  Margaret receives "a dose" each evening from her mother to help her forget "all her old griefs."  Margaret begins a community service project service of sorts, visiting Millbank Prison in London...specifically visiting and talking with the women prisoners there in the hopes that they will pick up some of the "goodness" of a woman of Margaret's class.  At Millbank Margaret meets an inmate spiritualist named Selina Dawes who works at peeling away the layers of Margaret's fragile mind. 

My Personal Response:

I so wanted to like this one.  This was my first Sarah Waters and maybe I just started in the wrong place :(  I will try another...I really will...but I will choose it wisely.  I swear I was depressed by the end of this book...really and truly this story messed with my head.  Don't get me wrong...I don't have to have a happy ending...but I don't want to be completely and totally frustrated at the end either...I swear I couldn't tell you WHY this story was written.

What I Liked:

The setting...the time period, the old homes and the prison...I toured Alcatraz a couple of years ago at sunset and I kept picturing the dark, spooky hallways and cells as I read.

Selina as friend or foe?  I never could guess and was totally stunned at the end.

The descriptions are so vivid...I could see Margaret's surroundings, her bedroom, her mother, the difference between the house when it was full of people and when it was empty, the prison matrons, and the prison administration as well as London at night. 

What I Didn't Like:

Part of the reason it's taken me so long to write this review is that I've been trying to figure out exactly what it was about this book that I just couldn't go along with.  I don't know much historically about the women in prison thing during this timeframe and that might help me put together some of the pieces.

At best this story is depressing...and maybe it's supposed to be...when I finished this book I felt the same way I felt at the end of the movie Unfaithful with Richard Gere and Diana Lane...thinking I would have been just fine to have missed this boat.  

SPOILER ALERT: I finally decided that this story is about Margaret Pryor's descent into madness.  That's all I can figure out.  If that's the premise, the book was done well because as the reader I slid right into madness with Margaret trying to figure out at times what the heck was going on.

The point of view switches...I didn't see the point? I got the connection between Selina and Margaret by the end...but all the back and forth did was confuse me before I knew there would be a connection.  Is the book about Margaret...or Selina...how the heck is the reader supposed to know.  If you pick the wrong character to care about, you'll be screwed in the end.  I swear I felt like tossing this book across the room when I finally finished it.

The "ghost" Peter Quick...yeah, yeah I understand why Selina uses him...I just didn't like him.

There were times when Selina's plight reminded me of one of my favorite heroines of all time, Edna from The Awakening.  However, even though both Edna and Margaret were overwhelmed with their lives and the world around them and could not find a place for themselves within the world where they're trapped, I never saw Edna as a victim.  I really didn't.  I felt sorry for Margaret from pg. 1 and just kept feeling sorry for her.  How many times can a person be victimized? 

My Overall Recommendation:

Obviously fans of Sarah Walters will want to read this book...others who might enjoy this might be those who enjoy psychological mysteries where the lines between real and imaginary are not clearly drawn; thus, the full culmination is never really reached...or is it?