History Literature / WolfHall

* OneSteveLimit: [[TruthInTelevision Averted]]. There's numerous Thomases in the story, including but not limited to Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas More, and Thomas Crammer. This gets a LampshadeHanging in one scene where Wolsey has his first meeting with Boleyn and Boleyn takes note of Cromwell. Cromwell thinks to himself that Boleyn will not remember him, because "half the world is named Thomas". There's also several Henry's, including the current monarch, and the fact that Cromwell's sister-in-law Johane is married to a Jonathan and has a daughter called Jo.

* GoodBadGirl: Mary Bolyen.

* BestServedCold: Cromwell never really forgives Anne for her part in Wolsey's downfall. He just allies himself with her until she's no longer useful, and he gets his chance to get her back for it. Similarly, he makes sure to note all the people involved in the "Sending the Cardinal to Hell" masque and conveniently chooses them to be executed for committing adultery and treason with her.

* BestServedCold: Cromwell ''never'' forgives Anne for her part in Wolsey's downfall. He just allies himself with her until he gets his chance to get her back for it. Similarly, he makes sure to note all the people involved in the "Sending the Cardinal to Hell" masque and conveniently chooses them to be executed for committing adultery and treason with her.

* ReplacementGoldfish: After his wife dies Cromwell has an affair with her sister Johane. He also names all his dogs Bella after the dog he had as a boy and had to leave behind.

* RagsToRiches: See FromNobodyToNightmare. Cromwell started life as the son of an improvident brewer doing manual labor and ended it as a wealthy and powerful nobleman. And as per history, he raised up his family in the process. His nephew Richard was the son of brewer and would-be-lawyer Morgan Williams, and thanks to Cromwell/participation in Cromwell's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Monasteries Dissolution of the Monasteries]], he ended up as a wealthy courtier (incidentally, Richard was the great-grandfather of OliverCromwell).

* RagsToRiches: See FromNobodyToNightmare. Cromwell started life as the son of an improvident brewer doing manual labor and ended it as a wealthy and powerful nobleman. And as per history, he raised up his family in the process. His nephew Richard was the son of brewer and would-be-lawyer Morgan Williams, and thanks to Cromwell/participation in Cromwell's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Monasteries Dissolution of the Monastaries]], he ended up as a wealthy courtier (incidentally, Richard was the great-grandfather of OliverCromwell).

* BestServedCold: Cromwell never forgives Anne for her part Wolsey's downfall, he just allies himself with her until he gets his chance to get her back for it. Similarly he makes sure to note all the people involved in the "Sending the Cardinal to Hell" masque and conveniently choses them to be executed for adultery with her

* TheConsigliere: Cromwell might be this for Henry VIII - or The Dragon, depending on whether they're seen as good or evil.

* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: More like "Morally Ambiguous Parents" in Cromwell's case but he repeatedly talks about how he hopes Gregory won't have to get his hands dirty they way he does
* FaceOfAThug: Cromwell hears himself described as looking like a killer and is troubled by and frequently thinks of this comment, including when he sees Holbein's portrait of him, because Cromwell is very focused on the idea of "erasing" his past as a brawling urchin and refashioning himself as someone respectable and admired.
* FriendlyEnemies: Cromwell and Chapuys, though they're not enemies per se in that they belong to different factions but don't actively work against one another.

* GeniusBruiser: Cromwell was a brawler in youth and spent some years as a mercenary in Italy, and while he no longer likes to solve problems using violence, still could (and other people who interact with him know it).
* GoodBadGirl: Mary Bolyen
* GoodParents: Cromwell is portrayed as a very caring affectionate father figure to his own children as well his nieces, nephews, and wards
* GratuitousFrench: Anne Boleyn, who lived at the French court with her ambassador father, is described as throwing a lot of French expressions into her speech and playing up her "foreigness" to seem more interesting.
* TheHeroDies: Not yet, but guaranteed to happen in the last book, seeing as Thomas Cromwell was executed in 1540.
* HeroesLoveDogs: Especially little ones that remind him of his childhood pet
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much everyone in the book, the exceptions being most of Cromwell's servants and a few more minor characters.

* IAmNotMyFather: Cromwell goes to a lot of trouble to be the opposite of his own abusive, alcoholic father

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Gregory is a nice kid but he hurts his father's feelings without meaning to from time to time

* MaliciousMisnaming: Anne Boleyn always referring to Cromwell as "Cremuel" seems to be this. While this does appear to be how a French person would pronounce the name- Chapuys also pronounces it this way- since Anne is a native English speaker (despite spending time in France), it is implied to be a deliberate slight.

* OneSteveLimit: [[TruthInTelevision Averted]]. There's numerous Thomases in the story including but not limited to Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas More, and Thomas Crammer. This gets a LampshadeHanging in one scene where Wolsey has his first meeting with Boleyn and Boleyn takes note of Cromwell. Cromwell thinks to himself that Boleyn will not remember him, because "half the world is named Thomas". There's also several Henry's, including the current monarch and the fact that Cromwell's sister-in-law Johane is married to a Jonathan and has a daughter called Jo.

* ReplacementGoldfish: After his wife dies Cromwell has an affair with her sister Johane, also he names all his dogs Bella after the dog he had as a boy and had to leave behind

* UpperClassTwit: A lot of Henry's noble friends are portrayed like this
* UnscrupulousHero: Cromwell definitely has a chequered past and does manage to get several of his enemies executed.

* CorruptChurch

* OneSteveLimit: [[TruthInTelevision Averted]].

* BlackAndWhiteBeauty: Anne.

* TakeThat: Thomas More is portrayed as being a religious fanatic and extremely controlling towards his wife and family, in contrast to his generally very positive portrayal in other media.

* AntiHero: Cromwell. Or Anti-Villain. Or VillainProgatonist. It gets more and more difficult to tell as it goes on.

* AntiHero: Cromwell. Or Anti-Villain/VillainProgatonist. It gets more and more difficult to tell as it goes on.

* AdiposeRex : Henry VIII's getting there. Hans Holbein at one point wonders whether it would be more appropriate to paint Henry as he was five years ago, or ten. Cromwell: 'Stick to five. He'll think you're mocking him.'
* AntiHero : Cromwell. Or Anti-Villain/VillainProgatonist. It gets more and more difficult to tell as it goes on.
* AssholeVictim : All the men accused of being Anne's lovers in "Bring Up the Bodies".
* BlackAndWhiteBeauty : Anne.
* BrotherSisterTeam : Anne and George Boleyn. [[BrotherSisterIncest It doesn't]] [[AbominationAccusationAttack go well for them.]]

* TheConsigliere : Cromwell might be this for Henry VIII - or The Dragon, depending on whether they're seen as good or evil.

* FriendlyEnemies : Cromwell and Chapuys, though they're not enemies per se in that they belong to different factions but don't actively work against one another.
* TheHeroDies : Not yet, but guaranteed to happen in the last book, seeing as Thomas Cromwell was executed in 1540.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter : Pretty much everyone in the book, the exceptions being most of Cromwell's servants and a few more minor characters.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade : Cromwell.
* InterrogatedForNothing : Mark Smeaton. Cromwell knows he didn't ''really'' sleep with Anne Boleyn, but he needs people to convict. The fact that Mark took part in the 'Sending the Cardinal to Hell' masque really didn't help his case, either.
* MysteriousPast : Between leaving England at roughly fifteen (after reportedly stabbing and killing someone) and returning to it about a decade and a half later, we know very little about what Cromwell was doing; we know he completely changed as a person, visited many European cities, and fought in a war (for the French!) but he refuses to talk to anyone else in any detail about anything he saw or did in those years.

* ShownTheirWork : The books are ''filled'' with details about the exact make-up of Tudor England.
* TitleDrop : Wolf Hall is an alternative spelling for Wulfhall, an estate owned by the Seymours. It comes up a couple of times towards the end.
* TakeThat : Thomas More is portrayed as being a religious fanatic and extremely controlling towards his wife and family, in contrast to his generally very positive portrayal in other media.
* UnreliableNarrator : While not lying to himself exactly, Cromwell definitely tends to skip over the less morally sound parts of his thought processes. It is implied at the end of ''Bring Up The Bodies'' that he chose the five men charged with adultery with Anne because they took part in the 'Sending The Cardinal To Hell' masque, but this is never brought up in the narration while he's actually doing the organising.
* UnscrupulousHero : Cromwell definitely has a chequered past and does manage to get several of his enemies executed.

* AssholeVictim: All the men accused of being Anne's lovers in "Bring Up the Bodies".

* BrotherSisterTeam: Anne and George Boleyn. [[BrotherSisterIncest It doesn't]] [[AbominationAccusationAttack go well for them.]]

''Wolf Hall'' is a novel by Hilary Mantel told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's favourite advisors in the 1530s. It portrays him much more positively than most fictional depictions of Cromwell tend to, as a generally nice guy with extraordinary talents and a good sense of humour who just happens to occasionally do some morally ambiguous things to keep favour with his king. It won the 2009 Man Booker Prize, as did its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies, in 2012; a third book, ''The Mirror and the Light'', is expected in the next couple of years.

''Wolf Hall'' is a novel by Hilary Mantel told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's favourite advisors in the 1530s. It portrays him much more positively than most fictional depictions of Cromwell tend to, as a generally nice guy with extraordinary talents and a good sense of humour who just happens to occasionally do some morally ambiguous things to keep favour with his king. It won the 2009 Man Booker Prize, as did its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies.

''Wolf Hall'' is a novel told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's favourite advisors in the 1530s. It portrays him much more positively than most fictional depictions of Cromwell tend to, as a generally nice guy with extraordinary talents and a good sense of humour who just happens to occasionally do some morally ambiguous things to keep favour with his king. It won the 2009 Man Booker Prize, as did its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies.

* Doorstopper: At 672 pages, it was the longest novel to win the Man Booker until beaten by ''The Luminaries'' in 2013.

* UnreliableNarrator : While not lying to himself exactly, Cromwell definitely tends to skip over the less morally sound parts of his thought processes. It is implied at the end of ''Bring Up The Bodies'' that he chose the five men charged with adultery with Anne because they took part in the 'Sending The Cardinal To Hell' masque, but this is never brought up in the narration while he's actually doing the organising.