‘THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT’ CONCLUDES COMPELLING CROMWELL TRILOGY
Thomas Cromwell was a British lawyer and government official during the reign of Henry VIII. Although of humble birth, he rose to prominence as a senior adviser to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor England. He later served on Henry’s cabinet as principal secretary and chief minister, holding titles such as Lord Privy Seal, Viceregent, and Earl of Essex. Later still, he fell out of the king’s favor and was executed on charges of treason and heresy.
Having lived, and died, in interesting times, he has appeared as a character in many fictionalized accounts of Henry, his counselors and his wives. He is frequently depicted as the villain who engineered the death of Anne Boleyn to serve Henry’s need for a new wife and who conspired in the execution of Thomas More for nothing more than spite. In Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, Cromwell is given the gift of complexity. He is a political realist whose instinctive understanding of state relations usually keeps him several moves ahead of his diplomatic peers. As Henry’s fixer, he quiets opposition and arrests dissenters. He orchestrates retractions and, when necessary, coerces confessions. But he is also a tender husband, a kind father and a caring mentor.
Hilary Mantel’s new novel, “The Mirror and The Light,” is the third and final chapter of the series. In the two earlier books — “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies” — we learn of Cromwell’s low birth as the son of a Putney blacksmith, a vicious drunk who beats and berates his son. At 15, Thomas Cromwell leaves Putney, spending time in Belgium, France and Italy.
When he returns to England as an adult, his understanding of business and law help him to secure a position in Cardinal Wolsey’s household. There he begins his climb. His ambition derives not from a craving for power but rather from an understanding of his unique gifts and a desire to apply them to important problems in the spotlight of European politics.
As Wolsey’s man of business, he becomes enmeshed in the cardinal’s attempts to free Henry from his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. When Wolsey fails to obtain an annulment approved by the pope, he is banished from court and Henry’s favor. He dies before he can be arrested for treason.
After Wolsey’s death, Henry turns to Thomas Cromwell for help. Cromwell’s solution is more radical than Wolsey’s. Rather than obtain approval from the pope for an annulment, Cromwell engineers a parliamentary vote to separate the country from the au -thority of the Vatican and declare Henry the head of the Church in England.
With Henry’s marriage to Anne in 1533, Cromwell’s rise is assured although Anne’s is not. Just three years into the marriage, after failing to give birth to a son, Anne is executed following charges of adultery, incest and treason. Cromwell’s role in bringing charges against Anne is central and his ascent accelerates after Anne is beheaded.
The Thomas Cromwell that Ms. Mantel creates is both shockingly modern and bracingly alive. Cromwell recognizes, as many around him do not, the real levers of power that operate on nations and people. He understands commerce and capitalism and he appreciates the potency they hold in negotiations at the trading table. He is a man with a rich interior life, a mind always observing, processing, evaluating. We are privy to all his thoughts and reactions, those he shares with his inner circle and those he keeps to himself, his advisements to the king and the unanswered questions he puts to the ghosts of Wolsey and Anne.
When you read it, keep your focus and pay attention. The cast of characters is large and the shifting relationships are complicated. The dialogue is crisp and quick and each page is packed with meaning. There are many players — at court, in the countryside and across the channel — and many plots. At the center is Thomas Cromwell, pragmatic, insightful, ambitious. The path he follows, first with Wolsey and then with Henry, is a dangerous one. As powerful as he manages to become, he is unable to hold back the tide of events that swallows his plans, his aspirations and, ultimately, his life.