Hilary Mantel Awarded the Man Booker Prize (Again)

Hilary Mantel Awarded the Man Booker Prize (Again)

      Hilary Mantel has been awarded the Man Booker Prize for Bring Up the Bodies, her second book in a planned trilogy on the life of Thomas Cromwell.  While unquestionably well-deserved, the most striking aspect of this award is that it is Mantel’s second Man Booker Prize.  She won her first for Wolf Hall, the first book in the trilogy.  This is the only time that the Man Booker Prize has been awarded for a sequel.

       As a general rule, I dislike most purportedly historic fiction, especially when reduced to movies.  Thanks to, collectively, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and The Other Boleyn Girl, there is an entire generation that now entirely misunderstands Marcus Aurelius/Commodus, Balian of Ibelin and Anne Boleyn.  Mantel’s books of this series are the exception to that reservation; while literary license is certainly taken with respect to her description of Cromwell’s inner thoughts and impressions, her exposition carefully tracks the historic record.