What We're Reading: Cathy

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

This is the continuation of Thomas Cromwell's story which began in Wolf Hall. Ex-Queen Katherine finally dies but this doesn't bring the legitimacy to her queenship that Anne Boleyn thought it would. Instead, on the day of Katherine's funeral, Anne miscarries a boy. Her last chance at keeping Henry VIII is gone.  And Henry has decided he wants to marry Jane Seymour. The book covers only about 6 months (1535-6), in which we see Cromwell amassing the evidence needed to annul Henry's current marriage and convict the queen of adultery and treason. He gains new allies in this endeavor: the old noble families who want to restore the Catholic Church to England. Cromwell is leary of them but they are useful in their support of Henry's marriage to Jane. The foundations for the final part of the story have been laid.

The author says in her note at the end: "I am not claiming authority for my version; I am making the reader a propsal, an offer." I think this is a wonderful way of looking at historical fiction.