Watch a sneak peak of Hilary Mantel reading from The Mirror & the Light

The conclusion to Mantel's epic Wolf Hall trilogy is almost here. The author reads from the novel in this exclusive first-look video

The Wolf Hall finale is almost here, and Hilary Mantel has a little something in store to ease the wait.

EW can exclusively debut a video featuring the author, who won the Booker Prize two times for her first two books in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, reading from the beginning of the last book in the series, The Mirror & the Light. Kicking off in May 1536, the novel traces the final years of Cromwell, in the wake of Anne Boleyn's death.

hilary-mantel
David Levenson/Getty Images

Mantel has called the Wolf Hall project, which all told has sold millions of copies worldwide, the "greatest challenge" of her writing career. "When I began work on my Thomas Cromwell books back in 2005, I had high hopes, but it took time to feel out the full scope of the material," she said in a statement last spring, when the book was officially announced. "I didn’t know at first I would write a trilogy, but gradually I realized the richness and fascination of this extraordinary life."

Advanced reviews of The Mirror & the Light, which published Thursday in the U.K., have been largely positive. In her review for EW, Leah Greenblatt called the conclusion "maddening" and "fascinating," adding, "What Mantel does, often brilliantly, is put movement and muscle on the bare bones of what’s known."

Watch the video above. The novel publishes Tuesday, March 10, and is available for pre-order.

Related content:

Related Articles