Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall (2009) is a historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels". The book is the first in a trilogy; the sequel [Bring Up the Bodies](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16547664W) was published in 2012. The last book in the trilogy is [The Mirror and the Light](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20665410W) (2020), which covers the last four years of Cromwell's life.
Where Wolf Hall keeps showing up
Two of our editors' lists feature this novel.
What you might want to know about Wolf Hall
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In 1500, the young Thomas Cromwell flees a beating from his Putney blacksmith father and crosses the Channel as a soldier.
Yes. Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell trilogy includes Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror & the Light.
Yes. Wolf Hall won the 2009 Booker Prize, and Bring Up the Bodies won again in 2012, making Mantel the first British author and first woman to win the prize twice.
Mantel uses 'he' to refer to Cromwell in third person throughout, which can disorient readers. Most readers settle in by chapter two.
Wolf Hall was written by Hilary Mantel, published in 2009 by Lain.
Wolf Hall is 653 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Wolf Hall takes most readers 10 to 14 hours to finish.
Wolf Hall is a standalone novel by Hilary Mantel, not part of a series.
Wolf Hall is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
