#110 in Historical fiction
Wolf Hall
- 672
- Pages
- about 12 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 0 weeks on the list
- Booker Prize
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Our view
“Wolf Hall” follows Thomas Cromwell’s rise at the court of Henry VIII in prose and dialogue so alive that the period seems to breathe. It runs to well over six hundred pages; some readers find it dense and slow and mention the concentration it demands, and some find the narrative voice confusing and the crowd of names hard to keep straight. History here is something to sink into, not to skim.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Wolf Hall is a 2009 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 Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
Reading order · Wolf Hall
Full order & progress →- Wolf HallThis book
8.08.0 / 10 - Bring Up the Bodies
8.58.5 / 10 - The Mirror and the Light
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 431 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 75% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Historical fiction average of 8.0. That is how 8.0 comes out. A further +0.10 comes from the small bonus for major awards.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.1 | 38 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 393 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is Wolf Hall?
It has 672 pages — longer than 79% of the ranked books in Historical fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Historical fiction — and a score of 8.0, the closest to this book.
