This is perhaps the most illuminating and graceful interview of Dame Hilary I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. The interviewer (not identified here, unfortunately) asked trenchant, thoughtful questions in a delightfully gentle way and allowed her to spin out her thoughts at her own pace. He listened carefully, was genuinely engaged, and kept the focus on her. I have read other accounts of the writing of the Wolf Hall trilogy but learned so much from this beautiful, unfolding dialogue on her creative process and perspectives on history, historical writing, and writing in general. The brilliant interview is not a lost art as I had feared. Thank you so much.
@@carl-heinjeneke5186 Thank you! Was just reading about it! What a great loss to the literary world. I have read the Wolf Hall Trilogy and of course, couldn't get enough of the series on Prime video. She put so much life and imagination into her characters. She is one of those authors who really makes you feel like you are right there in the scene. RIP Dame Hilary. You will be missed!
At this political time I take comfort from the idea of her story about Thatcher, with the current nightmare budget and persecution of queer people strong in my mind.
I like the way the interviewer does not obtrude himself into the interview. Hilary Mantel is a very good, thoughtful speaker, and her precise and considered way of speaking requires time. Some interviewers jump in and try to impose their own personality with questions that are not really pertinent to what has been said before. Those interviewers are not this interviewer. This man knows this is not about him, but her.
Really appreciate these kind words. That was indeed exactly what I was trying to do. If you get the chance to speak with Hilary Mantel, you let her speak!
@@WaterstonesTV You did an excellent job of presenting Hilary in all her glory (love her) while staying in the background at the same time. Sign of an extremely professional journalist.
So many well known presenters and interviewers are either too servile or try to eclipse their subject. This was beautifully done…and what a lovely elegant interesting lady. May she rest in peace.
I’m half way through the book. It’s all but chained around my neck. It is so fantastic! Thank goodness for authors like Hilary Mantel who treat her readers as adults who can accept complexity and nuance. I bless the day a friend suggested that I read “Wolf Hall! Without a doubt her trilogy has been the most satisfying, intellectually stimulating prose I’ve ever read.
I agree! I've re-read the first two of the trilogy several times for the joy of it, and am on my second read-through of The Mirror and the Light. One thing that knocks me out is the extraordinary *immediacy* that Mantel has created. We are familiar with the history, but when I first read the books, I was frequently thinking, "What is going to happen?!"
s ash thank you. Have you read the WH trilogy yet? Mantel was a literary and historical genius. How I hate having to refer to her in the past tense now! Her passing just gutted me for a couple of weeks because I knew that she would never publish anymore books. Mantel’s greatest gift to her WH readers was that even if we already knew about Thomas Cromwell she brought him to life in such a way that even though I knew how his life ended it absolutely felt like I was learning about it for the very first time. My dear friend and honorary daughter and I read the first two books together. Because my copy of TMATL came before hers she begged me to call her any time of the day or night to tell her that I’d finally finished it. So, when I finished it at 3:00a.m. I did just that, even though I was weeping hard. Two weeks later I got a phone call at 2:00a.m. from her and we cried together for over an hour on the phone. Neither of us had ever had such an emotional response to the end of a book and to the end of a series like that before. We probably never will again. I bless Hilary Mantel for giving me the gift of surprise and tears plus a complete reevaluation of Thomas Cromwell. May she rest happy knowing the joy that she brought to millions of readers everywhere.
Someone from India and having no idea about Tudor history was a set back for me at the beginning of reading this book and having done some research about that period and reading about Thomas Cromwell in particular helped me understand that book to a deeper level. This is truly a masterpiece.
I could have listened to Hilary Mantel for the rest of my life and been content. She is one of the UKs most brilliant authors. Her writing sublime and her interviews brilliant. Notice that no one ever interrupts her when she speaks because she is so engaging and so brilliant. What a sad loss we endure to have lost her so early. Lovey Lady.
I keep trying to read the titles of the books on the shelves...She is such an interesting person, and I always find people’s books say so much about them. Also, I want most of them! Anyone else look at people’s books?
The countdown is on! Fab interview and massive thanks to Hilary for these great books and her particular version of Thomas Cromwell, can't wait to "hear" his voice again. I've taken a week off work to savour The Mirror And The Light ❤️
Wonderful and insightful interview! Mantel is a genius. Also shouts out to the interviewer who just calmly asks the right questions that invite Mantel to tell you things. This is an approach of something sociologists would do in qualitative research. Very good!
I can't wait til her next project and hope she tells us stories from different perspectives than the "official line". She has changed the way I view recorded history, it is so subjective. Our university has a college called St. Thomas More College. I can't hear that without thinking about that monster being able to torture human beings in his own home, with his children hearing the screams and becoming inured to their suffering just as violent video games do now. Every time I listen to her audiobooks, I learn. Thank you Ms. Mantel
I have done doctorate ( Ph.D.) on the novels of Hilary Mantel. She is highly experimental novelist. I haven't read the mirror and the light yet; but I am sure it will be quite different from her previously written novels - Wolf Hall and Bring up the bodies in respect of its plot, setting, characterization,theme and style though it's a sequel of her trilogy...
Hilary has the remarkable talent of bringing history to life as vibrantly and intriguingly as though one was a very part of it in time. A truly great writer!
She’s fantastic. Love her work and the beautiful way she expresses herself. She inspired me to start my historical channel based in the Bronze Age. “Fiction deals with that which by its nature never comes onto the historical record: the private life, the private thought, the private word, the unexpressed impulse, the thought repressed, the dream, the inner being, the workings of the psyche.” -Hilary Mantel
I love her books, They captivated me and I learned so much. In interviews she seems sweet and graceful. I was shocked and so sad when she died, and still feel haunted by it.
Reading about 50 pages a day.....so rich and beautiful. Something to do in lieu of going about in public, which is starting to look like not a good idea.
Roche was truly the ultimate villain in Tudor history. I think that Cromwell was still able to listen to his conscience even at the end. I recently read a commentary about Riche which said that he was a person of whom no one who knew him, even his family, had a good thing to say about him.
My antenna was out many years ago when as a young novice in a religious order in ireland my class were taken to see ( a man for all seasòns) ìt is easy to see why! . Wolf hall has brought ìt full circle and see a very different thomas more. Ìt ìs not a guestion òf rìght òr wrong bùt a cònnection "someòne up there likès me." The mirror añd the light ready for my holidays in august hope it has the same as the same power as the other two
Thomas Cromwell's rise and fall reminds me of that saying, "A man's finest hour precedes his darkest." Such a shame Cromwell worked for the psycho Henry VIII!!
@@franklinstephen3268 Well not so well ATM thank you. Just found out that Dame Hilary has passed away of a stroke. I think her death got lost in all the burial ceremonies for Her Majesty, the Queen. I was so saddened to hear of her death. Such a great loss to the literary world.
This is perhaps the most illuminating and graceful interview of Dame Hilary I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch. The interviewer (not identified here, unfortunately) asked trenchant, thoughtful questions in a delightfully gentle way and allowed her to spin out her thoughts at her own pace. He listened carefully, was genuinely engaged, and kept the focus on her. I have read other accounts of the writing of the Wolf Hall trilogy but learned so much from this beautiful, unfolding dialogue on her creative process and perspectives on history, historical writing, and writing in general. The brilliant interview is not a lost art as I had feared. Thank you so much.
Rest in peace, Dame Hilary! What an excellent interview.
Oh no! Didn't know she had passed! I was so very sad to hear this!! What a great lady and author she was.
@@ElizabethF2222 She died of a stroke, yes. Indeed, one of the best authors.
@@carl-heinjeneke5186 Thank you! Was just reading about it! What a great loss to the literary world. I have read the Wolf Hall Trilogy and of course, couldn't get enough of the series on Prime video. She put so much life and imagination into her characters. She is one of those authors who really makes you feel like you are right there in the scene. RIP Dame Hilary. You will be missed!
At this political time I take comfort from the idea of her story about Thatcher, with the current nightmare budget and persecution of queer people strong in my mind.
I like the way the interviewer does not obtrude himself into the interview. Hilary Mantel is a very good, thoughtful speaker, and her precise and considered way of speaking requires time. Some interviewers jump in and try to impose their own personality with questions that are not really pertinent to what has been said before. Those interviewers are not this interviewer. This man knows this is not about him, but her.
Really appreciate these kind words. That was indeed exactly what I was trying to do. If you get the chance to speak with Hilary Mantel, you let her speak!
@@WaterstonesTV Well done, Sir, and thank you for it.
@@WaterstonesTV You did an excellent job of presenting Hilary in all her glory (love her) while staying in the background at the same time. Sign of an extremely professional journalist.
Yes! Absolutely. An excellent interviewer and a fascinating, thoughtful set of answers from this extraordinary writer. I loved this!
So many well known presenters and interviewers are either too servile or try to eclipse their subject. This was beautifully done…and what a lovely elegant interesting lady. May she rest in peace.
I’m half way through the book. It’s all but chained around my neck. It is so fantastic! Thank goodness for authors like Hilary Mantel who treat her readers as adults who can accept complexity and nuance. I bless the day a friend suggested that I read “Wolf Hall! Without a doubt her trilogy has been the most satisfying, intellectually stimulating prose I’ve ever read.
Monica Call high praise ! I am late to the party. I cannot wait to get my hands on the first book. Thank you for your comments.
Amen to this.
I agree! I've re-read the first two of the trilogy several times for the joy of it, and am on my second read-through of The Mirror and the Light. One thing that knocks me out is the extraordinary *immediacy* that Mantel has created. We are familiar with the history, but when I first read the books, I was frequently thinking, "What is going to happen?!"
What high praise
s ash thank you. Have you read the WH trilogy yet? Mantel was a literary and historical genius. How I hate having to refer to her in the past tense now! Her passing just gutted me for a couple of weeks because I knew that she would never publish anymore books. Mantel’s greatest gift to her WH readers was that even if we already knew about Thomas Cromwell she brought him to life in such a way that even though I knew how his life ended it absolutely felt like I was learning about it for the very first time. My dear friend and honorary daughter and I read the first two books together. Because my copy of TMATL came before hers she begged me to call her any time of the day or night to tell her that I’d finally finished it. So, when I finished it at 3:00a.m. I did just that, even though I was weeping hard. Two weeks later I got a phone call at 2:00a.m. from her and we cried together for over an hour on the phone. Neither of us had ever had such an emotional response to the end of a book and to the end of a series like that before. We probably never will again. I bless Hilary Mantel for giving me the gift of surprise and tears plus a complete reevaluation of Thomas Cromwell. May she rest happy knowing the joy that she brought to millions of readers everywhere.
"None of us are strangers to the struggle for advantage" Brilliant.
Someone from India and having no idea about Tudor history was a set back for me at the beginning of reading this book and having done some research about that period and reading about Thomas Cromwell in particular helped me understand that book to a deeper level. This is truly a masterpiece.
I could have listened to Hilary Mantel for the rest of my life and been content. She is one of the UKs most brilliant authors. Her writing sublime and her interviews brilliant. Notice that no one ever interrupts her when she speaks because she is so engaging and so brilliant. What a sad loss we endure to have lost her so early. Lovey Lady.
I keep trying to read the titles of the books on the shelves...She is such an interesting person, and I always find people’s books say so much about them. Also, I want most of them! Anyone else look at people’s books?
Every time someone is interviewed beside bookshelves😂
All the time!
All the time. It's my favourite pastime during late night shows ZOOM interviews.
Sera Nelson
She Wolves
Blood Will Tell
Houses of Power
Private Lives of Tudors
The countdown is on! Fab interview and massive thanks to Hilary for these great books and her particular version of Thomas Cromwell, can't wait to "hear" his voice again. I've taken a week off work to savour The Mirror And The Light ❤️
Hello how are you doing?
I dont know much about english history, but I cant wait to start reading this. What a lovely lady!
Wonderful and insightful interview! Mantel is a genius. Also shouts out to the interviewer who just calmly asks the right questions that invite Mantel to tell you things. This is an approach of something sociologists would do in qualitative research. Very good!
Hilary has such a mesmerising voice. I could listen to her all day.
What a brilliant lady and a great interview
I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about a books’ publication. Please please please let it be as good as the other two🙏🏻.
I finished this last week, it lives up to the hype and deserves all the recognition!
I can't wait til her next project and hope she tells us stories from different perspectives than the "official line". She has changed the way I view recorded history, it is so subjective. Our university has a college called St. Thomas More College. I can't hear that without thinking about that monster being able to torture human beings in his own home, with his children hearing the screams and becoming inured to their suffering just as violent video games do now. Every time I listen to her audiobooks, I learn. Thank you Ms. Mantel
I have done doctorate ( Ph.D.) on the novels of Hilary Mantel. She is highly experimental novelist. I haven't read the mirror and the light yet; but I am sure it will be quite different from her previously written novels - Wolf Hall and Bring up the bodies in respect of its plot, setting, characterization,theme and style though it's a sequel of her trilogy...
Hemant Devkar It forms the last contiguous thread and is excellent!
Hilary has the remarkable talent of bringing history to life as vibrantly and intriguingly as though one was a very part of it in time. A truly great writer!
Hello 👋 how are you doing?
She’s fantastic. Love her work and the beautiful way she expresses herself. She inspired me to start my historical channel based in the Bronze Age.
“Fiction deals with that which by its nature never comes onto the historical record: the private life, the private thought, the private word, the unexpressed impulse, the thought repressed, the dream, the inner being, the workings of the psyche.”
-Hilary Mantel
We love her work. Have read the first two in the trilogy 3x and are now halfway into The Mirror and the Light. It is food for the soul. Thank you!!!
Boi, I am pumped for this book!!!
Rest in peace wonderful woman
Very interesting Lady and amazing writer. Thank you for the interview Will.
Best and most useful interview I've seen, bravo and thank you Ms. Mantel.
On all levels: a titan, a hero!
Your just great Hilary,....to give us a wonderfull story.thankyou Andrew.
I love her books, They captivated me and I learned so much. In interviews she seems sweet and graceful. I was shocked and so sad when she died, and still feel haunted by it.
The audiobook of the trilogy was gripping. A number of readers, but each character was unmistakable. Incredibly well made.
Simon Vance is perfect, yes.
Lovely interview!❤ Lovely Woman! ❤
I loved her books on Cromwell!
Such generosity with her creative process
excellent interviewer bravo
Love this woman
I want to know what’s on her shelf behind them!
Jennifer Bell She Wolves
Blood Will Tell
Houses of Power
Private Lives of Tudors (messed around with a screen shot)
The most beautifully written books I have ever read.
Can’t wait to read this trilogy! Its on my TBR, a little intimidating bc I know I wont be able to put the books down
She is such a brilliant writer. I'd like to meet her.
15:21 immense insight into the effects of abuse on character formation
Good interview. An intro that explains the new books release, when etc would have been helpful.
She’s a genius
Is it coming?
My local independent book store is getting it next Tuesday
Reading about 50 pages a day.....so rich and beautiful. Something to do in lieu of going about in public, which is starting to look like not a good idea.
Richard Rich is another person I would like her to write a book about. There is nothing really on him out there. And he is as interesting as Cromwell
You need to read the fabulous Matthew Shardlake novels by C.J. Sansom. Full of Richard Rich. And not in a good way.
@@BrianXMoore I have all of them. But they are NOT about Richard Rich. He only gets mentioned here and there like many others also.
I’d love someone to create a story round Francis Walsingham, there’s so much scope considering his profession.
Roche was truly the ultimate villain in Tudor history. I think that Cromwell was still able to listen to his conscience even at the end. I recently read a commentary about Riche which said that he was a person of whom no one who knew him, even his family, had a good thing to say about him.
Monica Call Yeh, I saw that too. The ultimate man with no conscience, he’d do as well today as he did then probably better.
thanks for this
She speaks as lucidly as she writes. Not one of her sentences start with so...
14:40 хм-м...
not that long! I'm not LOST!
Amazing writer
Seems like a very down to earth Lady.
My antenna was out many years ago when as a young novice in a religious order in ireland my class were taken to see ( a man for all seasòns) ìt is easy to see why! . Wolf hall has brought ìt full circle and see a very different thomas more. Ìt ìs not a guestion òf rìght òr wrong bùt a cònnection "someòne up there likès me." The mirror añd the light ready for my holidays in august hope it has the same as the same power as the other two
Love it
Thomas Cromwell's rise and fall reminds me of that saying, "A man's finest hour precedes his darkest." Such a shame Cromwell worked for the psycho Henry VIII!!
Hello 👋 how are you doing?
@@franklinstephen3268 Well not so well ATM thank you. Just found out that Dame Hilary has passed away of a stroke. I think her death got lost in all the burial ceremonies for Her Majesty, the Queen. I was so saddened to hear of her death. Such a great loss to the literary world.
Are you serious? Henry VIII saved England from remaining in the Middle Ages subject to Roman Catholicism.
I think this book is much better writing than the first.
Damn, she ' s not that old !
Sounds like it could be 3 in a row
I wish they'd ask her different questions as so predictable
A politician’s mentality - there’s an interesting concept
Cromwell: the Eichmann of Hampton Court.
But she’s too sympathetic and glosses over some of the horrific torture methods that Cromwell used
Z
Dear Hilary Mantel madam please reply to my emails which I have been sending to you on your official face book account...
Dr. Hemant Devkar...
Hilary Mantel,her comments on the Royal Family are a disappointment to those who admire the monarchy.Her absence from the UK is perhaps a blessing.