I DVRed all six episodes of PBS Masterpiece‘s Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light last year. The sticking point was finding time to read Hilary Mantel’s 761 page novel that the series was based on. Fortunately, I finally read Mantel’s tome from 2020 while waiting eight hours at the Buffalo Airport for Diane and her sister Carol to arrive from JFK during the Government Shutdown.

The Mirror and the Light is the third book in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy (you can read my reviews of Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012) here). Mantel’s story of the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell is chilling. King Henry VIII is a psychopath whose moods can lead to someone dying. Henry Tudor, played brilliantly by Damian Lewis, faces popular unrest as a result of his break with Rome and the establishment of the Church of England. Henry also needs a son. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light starts with an execution so Henry can marry again.

Mark Rylance plays the dutiful Thomas Cromwell with great authenticity. Cromwell knows he serves a half-mad King and an England perilously in danger of internal dissension and foreign intrigue. Throughout the PBS series and Mantel’s historical novels, the treacherous path of power in the Court threatens Cromwell despite his successes.

Maybe it’s just the times we live in, but Henry VIII acts in very Trumpian ways. He rages, he threatens, he kills, he commits incredible cruelties, he dresses up in an absurd Turkish costume. Cromwell is urged to leave England and return to Antwerp where he once found happiness by a family member. But Cromwell stays and accepts his Fate.

If you’re a fan of historical dramas, you’ll love this Thomas Crowell trilogy. But be prepared to endure some pain and suffering at the atrocities committed by the King and his duplicitous Court. GRADE: A