First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe oppose him. The quest for the petulant king’s freedom destroys his advisor, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum and a deadlock.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a bully and a charmer, Cromwell has broken all the rules of a rigid society in his rise to power, and is prepared to break some more. Rising from the ashes of personal disaster – the loss of his young family and of Wolsey, his beloved patron – he picks his way deftly through a court where ‘man is wolf to man.’ Pitting himself against parliament, the political establishment and the papacy, he is prepared to reshape England to his own and Henry’s desires.

From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.

Happy Friday, everyone! Technically, it is already Saturday. So, happy weekend everyone! Regardless, I am grateful that we were all able to make it through the workweek. I hope you ended the workweek on a high note. I hope you were able to accomplish everything you wanted to accomplish. I hope you were able to tick off all the items on your list. I hope you are jumping into the weekend without much worry. Here in the Philippines, it seems that the weekend is going to be a damp one. It has been raining for the past four hours. Nevertheless, I hope everyone will have a restful weekend. It is time to let our hair down, wear comfortable clothes, and slow down. Basically, it is time to take a rest. I hope you are spending the weekend completing your chores or spending time with your loved ones. I wish you well as you pursue your passions. I hope everyone will find peace amid this pandemonium. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit.

With the workweek coming to an end, it is time for a fresh, albeit late, First Impression Friday update. Although I had been posting a (sometimes two) day late, I just cannot pass up the opportunity of publishing one update because this has become an essential component of my weekly book blogging. It is a space for me to take a breather. It allows me to process the book I am currently reading. In September, my exploration of European writers’ works will continue, although I will conclude this literary journey this month. This pivot comes after spending the first half of the year reading the works of Asian writers. This pivot is also critical in my 2025 reading journey because I have several books written by European writers in my reading challenges. I realized that I have been lagging behind in my reading challenges. Among these books is Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.

I have encountered the British writer every time I drop by the bookstore. However, her works rarely caught my fancy. It was only after The Mirror and the Light (2020), the third book in her famed Wolf Hall trilogy, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020 that I was finally convinced to read the trilogy. After all, the first two books in the trilogy, Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012), won the Booker Prize. These are more than good enough reasons for me to read her work. But there is also another reason for the urgency of reading her works. Apart from the promise of entering a literary world I haven’t explored before, I have another reason for including Wolf Hall in my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge. I was saddened by Mantel’s passing in 2022, even before I could finally explore her works. This motivated me to finally read her works, and the opportunity finally came this year.

Wolf Hall transports the readers to early 16th-century England, although the story officially commences in 1500. In the small town of Putney, England, we meet the young Thomas Cromwell; he is the main protagonist in the novel. The opening scene captures him being cruelly beaten up by his father, Walter. Walter is a drunk and the town’s blacksmith. This was nothing new for the young Cromwell, but this time, he was nearly killed by his inebriated father. At this juncture, the young Cromwell resolved to leave home and be a soldier. After fleeing from his abusive father, he sought his fortune as a soldier in France. By virtue of his hard work, Cromwell has become employed by Cardinal Wolsey, the Cardinal of York, and advisor to King Henry VIII. The year was 1527. Before returning to his homeland, Cromwell also served as a banker in Florence. Fortune finally smiled on Cromwell.

Back in England, Cromwell is practicing law. He is also married and a father of three. Earning his place as the highly respected right-hand of the Cardinal, Cromwell has shared a relationship built on camaraderie and respect with the Cardinal. It is at this juncture that things got a little tricky. The Cardinal informed Cromwell that the King wanted to annul his marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon. The story of King Henry VIII and his wives is certainly a familiar subject in history and even in historical films. The reason for the King’s desire to annul his marriage is the Queen’s inability to provide the King with a son. This is despite several stillbirths and miscarriages. The monarch had one surviving child, the future Queen Mary. This left both Cromwell and the Cardinal divided. By the way, this was a period when England was still largely Catholic.

When Cromwell went home to his wife, Liz, she told him about a mysterious package that arrived from Germany. It was one of the banned books that he had ordered. Cromwell, we learn, is a progressive man. While his peers consider some works heretical, Cromwell kept himself abreast with other ideas, particularly those of the controversial theologian Luther. Liz also informed her husband about the rumor regarding a beautiful emerald ring that the King ordered for a woman who was not his wife. The story then proceeds with a court of inquiry into the King’s marriage. The King claimed that their marriage was incestuous. Katherine was previously married to the King’s brother, Arthur, before Arthur’s untimely death. The Queen was not one to back down. She argued that her first marriage was never consummated, hence her marriage to the King is valid.

It is up to this point that I have read. The book is rather thick, so I surmise I have yet a long way to go. However, I have some iota already on what is about to happen. As I have mentioned, the story of King Henry VIII’s marriages is an object of historical fascination. Further, Anne Boleyn – and her family – is already in the picture. Further, the influence of the Vatican is already resonating in the story. As any history buff would know, the Pope disapproved of the King’s plan to annul his marriage. This resulted in the falling out between the Pope and the British monarchy, which then gave way to the rise of the Church of England. These are common knowledge, I guess. As such, I am more interested in the details of how these historical events transpired. I am also interested in the role that Cromwell played in these events.

There is a lot to look forward to and to understand. How about you, fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!