Bring Up the Bodies
The sequel to Wolf Hall, covering the fall of Anne Boleyn. Mantel won the Booker again in 2012, becoming the first woman and first British writer to win it twice. The novel is tighter and more lethal than its predecessor. Cromwell's maneuvering to bring down Anne reads like a thriller written by someone who has actually watched power operate at close range.
Mantel takes Cromwell's word for everything. The five men who die with Anne are guilty or not; the book shrugs along with its hero, and his self-justifications arrive in prose so good you barely notice you are rooting for a judicial murderer. You also need Wolf Hall first, and the floating 'he' still occasionally strands you mid-paragraph wondering who is speaking.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
