This Booker shortlisted, drool-worthy title is not available in this attractive US edition until next month, but, thanks to the largesse of the kindly people at Henry Holt, three of you BBAW celebrants will soon claim a copy as your own. What do I have to do, oh holder of the splendid book booty, you say? Tell me your favorite book blog from the UK. Many feel like our friends across the pond were under-represented in this year's award selections so let's show them some love.
My UK book blogger love story? So many loves but Cornflower stands out clear and true for me. She was one of the first book blogs I followed, her two spaces are gorgeous, she is concise, insightful, and has wonderful taste. And wonderful aesthetic sensibilities. And takes amazing photographs. And has a kind and generous heart. Did I ever tell you that she bought my students some MUCH requested books and had them shipped to the school where I teach? I really should comment on her posts more and stop being such a lurker. So that is my UK blogger love story. What is yours?
Book info:
"In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power
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 twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.
Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
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, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death."