海角大神

For readers and reviewers alike, three main questions have attended the imminence of 鈥淭he Mirror & the Light,鈥� Hilary Mantel鈥檚 third and final novel about King Henry VIII鈥檚 cruel, capable lawyer Thomas Cromwell.聽

The first question: Could Mantel maintain the wild readability of the previous two books, 鈥淲olf Hall鈥� (2009) and 鈥淏ring Up the Bodies鈥� (2012)? The novels traced the fortunes of Henry鈥檚 first two wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, while charting the steady accumulation of power and influence into Cromwell鈥檚 own ruthless hands. Those earlier books came alive with an uncanny momentum.

So, too, with 鈥淭he Mirror & the Light.鈥� This is the story of Henry鈥檚 third wife (and the mother of his only legitimate male heir) Jane Seymour, but it鈥檚 also the saga of Cromwell鈥檚 downfall, as the unceasing Tudor court machinations he manipulated so well finally turn on him as he tries to arrange a fourth marriage for Henry after Jane Seymour dies.聽

This new marriage will be to German princess Anne (here styled as 鈥淎nna鈥�) of Cleves, who鈥檚 being championed by Cromwell for political reasons after the contentious naming of other possible candidates. At one point, after Cromwell has privately called Henry the 鈥渕irror and the light鈥� of all other kings, Henry replies, 鈥淲hatever you hear, at home or abroad, I repose my faith in you.鈥澛�

In the Tudor world, such words, meant to reassure, are virtually a death sentence. To the reader avidly turning the pages, it鈥檚 amazing that Cromwell, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and a longtime observer of the king, doesn鈥檛 see it.聽

On the spur of the moment, Henry decides to don a thin disguise and go to meet his prospective bride as soon as her ship docks in 1540. Surprised and dismayed to find the king large, fat, and old, Anna briefly recoils. And even though she recovers instantly, the damage is done. 鈥淗e fell back,鈥� a witness tells Cromwell. 鈥淎ny man would have been stricken. She flinched from him. He could not miss it.鈥澛�

Henry marries Anna but soon curdles on the idea and begins pressuring Cromwell to find a way out. And what is baffling in the historical record is equally baffling in Mantel鈥檚 dramatization: for the first time in his court career, Cromwell simply doesn鈥檛 find that way out. And Henry notices. 鈥淚n January he said, Cromwell, you are not to blame,鈥� we鈥檙e told. 鈥淣ow you can hear him thinking: one thing, one thing I wanted him to do for me, and he would not.鈥澛�

The second question about 鈥淭he Mirror & the Light鈥� concerns Cromwell鈥檚 development as a character. He has always been a hard, do-anything, hatchet-man (first for Cardinal Wolsey and then for Henry), but the strain on credulity throughout these novels has been Mantel鈥檚 insistence that her readers believe in a Cromwell who鈥檚 not only likable but, in a way, noble. This Cromwell sits poorly alongside the grifter, the briber, and the torturer that history says Cromwell became at his zenith.聽

The final book presents a Cromwell more closely aligned with history. He鈥檚 a squinting, cynical observer of human frailty for the first 600 pages of the novel, and he鈥檚 a squinting, cynical observer of his own frailty in the final 100 pages. 鈥淢anuals of advice tell us you should fear weak men more than strong men,鈥� he thinks. 鈥淏ut we are all weak, in the presence of the king.鈥� It鈥檚 certainly believable, but for this character, it sounds a bit pat.

His friends desert him, his enemies gloat, but up to a certain point Cromwell clings to hope, even though he knows better: He knows his king. 鈥淚s there an instance 鈥� he [Cromwell] cannot think of one 鈥� where, having turned his face away, Henry turns it back?鈥澛�

The king doesn鈥檛, of course, and Mantel is exquisite in these final pages. 鈥淪o I won鈥檛 see August鈥� Cromwell reflects from the Tower of London. 鈥淭he hares that flee the harvester, the cold morning dews after St Bartholomew鈥檚 Day.鈥� It鈥檚 the same flinty Cromwell, as unsentimental about his own fate as he鈥檚 been about the fates of all the men and women he鈥檚 sent to their deaths, but it works our sympathies even so. The whole book is like that: even the most monstrous characters are given shades of touching empathy (including Henry, here given far more texture than in the earlier two books).

And the third question? It鈥檚 simple, persistent speculation: Will Hilary Mantel become the first author in history to win a Booker Prize for three consecutive novels? The longlist is announced in late July.聽