Wolf Hall

This month's book club book was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and I have to admit that I didn't finish it. It wasn't because I ran out of time but because I read One Day by David Nicholls instead. I simply could not get into this book and am surprised I even got half way.

The concept of last year's Booker Prize winner is vaguely interesting: retelling Henry VIII's relationship with Anne Boleyn from Thomas Cromwell's viewpoint and his consecutive rise to power. I wasn't exactly motivated after leafing through it seeing as I already knew most of the story and there was a huge list of characters at the beginning, immediately insinuating that you'll get lost around page 3. But I'll try anything for book club ;-)

Although I'm not a fan of historical fiction, I actually wanted to read this book. Ironic, right? Mantel did a great job researching and realistically depicting this era but sadly I found the book too detailed and thus slightly tedious. The main character, Cromwell, actually got on my nerves and that's never a good thing.

It's obvious why she won the Booker Prize and maybe someday I'll finish but the longer I wait, the less likely it seems.