The Mirror & the Light Summary
Hilary Mantel

The Mirror & the Light Overview

Hilary Mantel's The Mirror and the Light completes her Wolf Hall trilogy, which traces the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the canny advisor to Henry VIII. In this final book, Cromwell grapples with his own conscience as he tries to serve the increasingly mercurial and dangerous Henry. Having risen from a lowly childhood as a blacksmith's son to his position as the second-most-powerful man in England, Cromwell has seen enough to know that what goes up must come down. Inhabiting Cromwell in a needle-sharp limited third person, Mantel explores themes of power, fatherhood, legend, and the body.