Hilary Mantel has won the 2009 Booker Prize for "Wolf Hall," a novel about Thomas Cromwell, the Tudor noble who architected the Church of England and, until now, was most famous in literature as the main villain in Robert Bolt's play "A Man for All Seasons."




"Wolf Hall!" Slam dunk!

Cromwell is historically pitted against the inflexible St. Thomas More, a cranky intellectual who won't shut up about how great it is to be Catholic in an age of "choices."



Cromwell is the blustery one in black who keeps yelling about swearing and justice.

Ironically, despite their differences, both More and Cromwell were executed by Henry VIII for treason. Cromwell's severed head was stuck on a pike facing away from London, an insult that his great nephew Oliver would never forget. Oliver would get revenge as Lord Protector of England, leading a Puritan revolution, beheading King Charles I, torching Ireland, and starting a whole bunch of wars that would ultimately lead to the founding of the American colonies.



If you are divorced or thinking about getting divorced, three cheers for the Cromwell family! And three more cheers for Hilary Mantel for winning the Booker, the English speaking world's most prestigious literary prize.

The most "prestigious" prize that an American can win is the Pulitzer, or maybe the National Book Award. We are technically eligible for the Nobel Prize, but yeah right.

You can listen to a selection from "Wolf Hall" at the Booker Prize website.

Posted by miracle on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:04:41 -0400 -- permanent link