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 Eight years in the writing, "The Mirror & the Light" is one of
the most eagerly anticipated literary releases in recent years
following the runaway success of the two previous novels in the
series.
"Wolf Hall", published in 2009, and its sequel "Bring Up the
Bodies", which came out in 2012, together sold more than 5
million copies worldwide and both won the Booker Prize, an
unprecedented win for two books in the same trilogy.
Mantel, 67, is the only woman and the only Briton to have won
the prestigious award twice.
The final installment picks up where the previous one left off,
just after the beheading of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, a
drama in which Cromwell played a central part.
The Mirror & the Light charts Cromwell's further consolidation
of power following Anne's death, his religious reforms that
cause turmoil across the land, and his eventual downfall. At the
end of the book, his own head is on the executioner's block.
The book is officially published on Thursday, but Mantel was
signing copies at a special event at a central London bookstore
on Wednesday evening.
While the first eager fans to get their hands on the 900-page
tome waited in line to have it signed by Mantel, historical
musicians played traditional tunes on 16th-century instruments
including the recorder and lute.
The launch event also featured an embroidery workshop where
guests made flowers in the style of Tudor roses and a dramatic
performance of readings from the first two books.
Mantel's editor, Nicholas Pearson, described the publication as
an emotional moment.
"I do think this book is the crowning achievement of her career
so far and that is saying something when you’ve got Wolf Hall
and Bring Up the Bodies behind you," he said.
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"It's a book about the re-jigging of this country 500 years ago
which has connotations with what's going now," he added.
The turbulent and bloody politics of the Tudor era, which lasted
from 1485 to 1603, is a well-trodden path for writers of
historical fiction, but Mantel is widely credited with elevating
the genre to new heights.
"With this trilogy, Mantel has redefined what the historical
novel is capable of," wrote the Guardian's Stephanie Merritt in
her review of the latest book, which she said was also worthy of
the Booker.
"She has given it muscle and sinew, enlarged its scope, and
created a prose style that is lyrical and colloquial, at once
faithful to its time and entirely recognizable to us."
The New York Times also ran a highly flattering review of the
work, calling it a "triumphant capstone" to the Cromwell
trilogy.
"The world is blotted out as you are enveloped in the sweep of a
story rich with conquest, conspiracy and mazy human psychology,"
wrote the U.S. paper's reviewer Parul Sehgal.
The London Times struck a dissonant note, saying in its own
review that the third installment was "clogged with researched
data" and painfully slow in parts.
"Her trilogy is a phenomenal achievement, but in The Mirror &
the Light it's more a phenomenon of amassed information and
tireless enthusiasm than triumphant creativity," wrote Peter
Kemp.
Asked by Reuters if Mantel would write a sequel, Pearson shook
his head.
"We're done," he said, "we're done."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft, writing by Estelle Shirbon;
Editing by David Gregorio)
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