Author Guide
Hilary Mantel Books in Order
Complete reading list for the two-time Booker Prize winner — the Wolf Hall trilogy and her other remarkable novels.
About
Dame Hilary Mantel (1952–2022) was the first woman and first British author to win the Booker Prize twice — for Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012). Her prose is immediately distinctive: present tense, close third person, compression of language. She worked seventeen years on the Cromwell trilogy, completing it with The Mirror & the Light (2020) before her death in 2022.
Reading order: The Wolf Hall trilogy must be read in strict order. Start with Wolf Hall. Beyond Black is the best entry point to her non-historical work.
Hilary Mantel Books in Order
The Wolf Hall trilogy first, then her other novels.
1
Wolf Hall
2009
Booker PrizeThomas Cromwell rises through the court of Henry VIII. Present-tense third person, complete mastery. Booker Prize winner.
2
Bring Up the Bodies
2012
Booker PrizeThe fall of Anne Boleyn. Cromwell engineering a queen's destruction. Second Booker Prize. Her shortest and most controlled novel.
3
The Mirror & the Light
2020
Trilogy ConclusionThe final volume. Cromwell falls from favour. 900 pages. Booker-longlisted.
4
Beyond Black
2005
A medium in suburban England is haunted by genuinely threatening spirits. Mantel's best non-historical novel.
5
Giving Up the Ghost
2003
Mantel's memoir. Childhood, illness, the years of misdiagnosis. Devastating and beautiful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read the Wolf Hall trilogy in order?
Yes, strictly: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror & the Light. Each follows directly from the last.
Is Wolf Hall difficult to read?
It requires adjustment. The present-tense third-person where "he" always means Cromwell is disorienting for the first fifty pages. Persevere — by the end of the first section it will feel inevitable.
Did Mantel die before finishing the trilogy?
No. All three volumes are complete. Mantel died in September 2022, two years after The Mirror & the Light was published.