I loved the TV adaptation and I’ve wanted to read this since I saw that. It is meticulously researched and brilliantly written. And Mantel is obviously a prodigious talent. Why then did I find it so difficult to get through all 650 pages? It took me two months, which for me is a pretty much unheard of marathon. I just couldn’t get with it. Some days I read a chunk, really enjoyed it…and couldn’t bring myself to pick it up again for days that became weeks.
I guess i just don’t do historical fiction.
There’s just too much of this, too many characters, families, machinations, plots…counter-plots. Lots of other people like it. I must be wrong. I guess.
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