Wolf Hall

The Act of Supremacy has declared Henry supreme head of the church in England. But the Holy Roman Emperor, and his ambassador, Eustache Chapuys, have refused to recognise either his new title or his marriage to Anne Boleyn.

Anne accuses Cromwell of betrayal when she finds out he tried to protect Mary and not Elizabeth at a time of crisis. But Anne's power is dissolving rapidly and her enemies are gathering.

The Mirror and the Light opens in the heartbeat after Anne Boleyn's death, as the young queen's blood is sluiced from the scaffold and Thomas Cromwell picks his way across the wreckage to take up his position as principal councillor to an unpredictable king.

Despite his lowly beginnings in a Putney blacksmith's forge, Cromwell has made a reputation for himself as one of England's most formidable politicians. On the day of the queen's death, he is at the height of his powers. He has found a bloody way for the king to escape his marriage, pinning Anne Boleyn and her circle to crimes they could never have imagined. He has delivered her to the Calais swordsman's blade. He has smoothed the path for the king's marriage to his third wife, Jane Seymour. And he has been rewarded well. Now both master secretary and lord privy seal, there are few parts of the state's business that do not pass over his desk.

But in rising so high, Cromwell has also attracted powerful enemies...

Cromwell has become the most significant politician in the whole of England, his place as Henry's principal adviser secure. The duke of Norfolk, England's most senior nobleman by rank, is in disgrace, tainted by the treasonous behaviour of his niece, Anne Boleyn. So when Cromwell uncovers a clandestine affair between Norfolk's brother and the King's niece, an opportunity opens up to destroy his foremost enemy for good. Yet Cromwell stays his hand.