Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel Audiobook

Quotes

• “In Mantel’s hands, Cromwell’s cunning, morally complicated orchestration of that historic slice through the royal neck is as exciting as any thriller.”

  — Entertainment Weekly

• “Darkly magnificent…Mantel animates history with a political and psychological acuity equal to Tolstoy’s.”

  — Washington Post

• “Lovely, present, and thrilling.”

  — Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

• “Mantel has the maddeningly unteachable gift of being interesting…All is alive, silvery, alert, rapid with insight.”

  — New Yorker

• “[Bring Up the Bodies] is astringent and purifying, stripping away the cobwebs and varnish of history, the antique formulations and brocaded sentimentality of costume drama novels, so that the English past comes to seem like something vivid, strange, and brand new.”

  — New York Times Book Review

• “There is no one else writing with Mantel’s verve and control, her talent for richly wrought story, crisp pace, and direct prose.”

  — Miami Herald

• “Mantel writes the kind of sentences you want to live in…Bring Up the Bodies isn’t just her boldest book, it’s also her best.”

  — NPR

• “Who knew history could be so sexy?”

  — Vanity Fair

• “Marvelous, intoxicating…Read Bring Up the Bodies for its chilling character profile, its period details on jousting and Tudor kitchens, its congregation of the seven deadly sins…Nobody should skip a heady word of Mantel’s planned trilogy.”

  — Cleveland Plain Dealer

• “Meticulously crafted…Superb…Highly entertaining…Brilliant.”

  — Slate

• “What’s being called the Wolf Hall Trilogy is a remarkable work in progress, a series that makes the past feel immediate and—this is the best part—unpredictable. Even if you know the history, you’ll find yourself racing through these pages to find out what happens next.”

  — People

• “After pulling off this literary feat twice, you realize the smartest person in the room isn’t Cromwell after all—it’s Mantel.”

  — Huffington Post

• “Her characters are real and vivid people who bring to life the clash of ideals that gripped England at the time. She makes the past present and vital.”

  — Economist (London)

• “Bring Up the Bodies stands magnificently on its own…Such is [Mantel’s] skill.”

  — Los Angeles Times

• “This second volume in Hilary Mantel's planned trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, right-hand man to Henry VIII of England, is a perfect marriage of the written and spoken word…Simon Vance's silken tones and expert pacing keep us engaged throughout…Vance enhances the story with instructive vocal portraits of key players and a listenable tempo that keeps us clear and entranced until the end.

  — AudioFile Magazine, winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award

• Can one improve Hilary Mantel's tale of Tudor intrigue, Bring Up the Bodies, which has racked up both sales and awards? Well, yes, if you add Simon Vance's acclaimed voice. In an Audie-nominated performance, Vance doesn't simply narrate the Man Booker winner – he seems to inhabit the characters.

  — USA Today, four out of four stars

• If you listened to Simon Slater's riveting reading of the Booker Prize-wining ‘Wolf Hall,' the 2009 opener in Hilary Mantel's trilogy, the news that the sequel has a different narrator won't be good. Fear not. Simon Vance's narration is every bit as versatile and nuanced as Slater's, his intonation for each character is as uncannily distinctive – a critical requirement with so many characters. Even better, Vance's voice portrayal of the historically maligned Thomas Cromwell, chief adviser to King Henry VII, is almost indistinguishable from Slater's in ‘Wolf Hall'

  — Newark Star-Ledger

• We all know the story, but hearing it described through Cromwell's eloquent words and inner thoughts on power and ambition, his own included, make it new again, and riveting. Mantel's language is extraordinary – it's as though she's channeled Cromwell from beyond and burrowed into his mind – and Simon Vance's impeccable reading is a perfect match. A wonderful way to celebrate audio month.

  — BookPage

• Narrator Simon Vance's skillful presentation enhances Mantel's outstanding description and dialogue. His gorgeous sound, tone and accent add to the beauty and horror of the compelling story.

  — Library Journal, starred review

• Narrator Simon Vance shines in his portrayal of the characters, creating a range of distinct voices – including the increasingly tense Anne Boleyn and the earnest Georgey, Cromwell's mild-mannered young son who is eager to prove himself. Best of all, however, are the measured tones Vance employs for the conniving Cromwell. The narrator captures the soul of this complex character, a man of innate pragmatism and confidence who is also quietly haunted by regrets. Vance also nails the bone-dry wit of the characters. In all, this is an exemplary audiobook.

  — Publishers Weekly, starred review

• Vance takes commence of the complex story, reading Mantel's complicated prose with assurance…Tensions leading up to Anne Bolyn's execution run high, and Vance relays the emotions with precision and grace, showing that he is attuned to the complicated plot.

  — Booklist

• I downloaded Hilary Mantel's majestic ‘Bring Up the Bodies' and was pleasantly surprised to hear Vance's gentle and authoritative voice once again. It was like running into an old friend and knowing that we were about to have a long and satisfying visit.

  — John Schwartz, The New York Times Book Review