Babies in Literature Series: Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall

The Darmstadt Madonna by Hans Holbein, whose paintings are mentioned in Wolf Hall.

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall traces the career of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's closest advisor for a time. The book is written in the close third person, and we are led to assume that Cromwell  is about as pleased with the birth of a girl child to Queen Anne as was Henry himself. Which is to say, not very. There are two descriptions of the infant Elizabeth that are amusing. Here is Cromwell's first view of her:

The princess, unswaddled, had been placed on cushions at Anne's feet: an ugly, purple, grizzling knot of womankind, with an upstanding ruff of pale hair and a habit of kicking up her gown as if to display her most unfortunate feature. It seems stories have been put about that Anne's child was born with teeth, has six fingers on each hand, and is furred all over like a monkey, so her father has shown her off naked to the ambassadors, and her mother is keeping her on display in the hope of countering the rumours. The king has chosen Hatfield for her seat, and Anne says, 'It seems to me waste might be saved, and the proper order of things asserted, if Spanish Mary's household were broken up and she were to become a member of the household of the princess Elizabeth my daughter.'

   'In the capacity of ...?' The child is quiet; only, he notes, because she has crammed a fist into her maw and is cannibalising herself.

   'In the capacity of my daughter's servant. What else should she be? There can be no pretence at equality. Mary is a bastard.'

   The brief respite is over; the princess sets up a screech that would bring out the dead. Anne's glance slides away sideways, and a sideways grin of infatuation takes over her whole face, and she leans down towards her daughter, but at once women swoop, flapping and bustling; the screaming creature is picked up, wrapped up, swept away, and the queen's eyes follow pitifully as the fruit of her womb exits, in procession. He says gently, 'I think she was hungry.'

You'll have to read the book for the other description. And you'll want to -- it is excellent. My only quibble is that, at 650 pages, it isn't quite long enough. I was willing to follow Cromwell to his death. If you need more convincing, check out Levi Stahl's terrific review.

Comments

[Levi Stahl]

I don't know if you've seen the news yet, Stephany, but Mantel's already at work on a sequel that will take Cromwell through the rest of his life. We probably have to wait until at least 2011 for it, though.