Wolf Hall

A rising in the north destabilises Henry's kingdom. Despite the risks to his own life, Cromwell moves to protect Lady Mary from becoming the rebels' greatest prize.

The court of King Henry is on the brink of a new era. Henry and Jane are expecting a child, and for the third time in his life, the king allows himself to imagine a legitimate heir. The war in the north is over, the rebels are stilled, and the Lady Mary is back at court and out of reach of Henry's enemies. England is cautiously hopeful. But joy at the birth of the young prince in the autumn of 1538 is short-lived, for Edward is only 12 days old when his mother Jane dies in the complications of childbirth, and Henry's court is plunged into mourning.

Cromwell's marital diplomacy brings Princess Anne of Cleves to Henry's court. Will the alliance create a Protestant superpower in northern Europe, or has Cromwell's luck run out? 

June 1540. Thomas Cromwell, lately Earl of Essex and lord great chamberlain of England, is arrested, stripped of his titles and imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he awaits trial. His fall has been dizzying. As Cromwell struggles to make sense of it, he is visited by his friend and former ward, Rafe Sadler, now one of the king's gentlemen. Rafe is the only person brave enough, and loyal enough, to bring the so-called traitor news from court.