9 Best Hilary Mantel Books
The best Hilary Mantel books, ranked by how many expert sources recommend each one, with notes on who each suits, from historical novels to memoir.
Our take
Hilary Mantel writes about power through the minds and bodies of people who must live with it. Her historical novels make negotiation, ambition, and private vulnerability feel close at hand. Beyond those large political stories, she explores unsettling households, religious authority, ghosts, illness, and the habits of memory. The shorter novels and nonfiction offer different routes into her work.
The Cromwell trilogy should be read in order: Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, then The Mirror and the Light. Choose A Place of Greater Safety for another substantial historical novel, or The Giant, O’Brien for a shorter and darker encounter with the past. Fludd compresses Mantel’s satire into a village, while Beyond Black turns toward contemporary suburban unease. Giving Up the Ghost offers a personal perspective, and Mantel Pieces lets you sample essays and reviews. Begin with Wolf Hall if Tudor politics draws you, or Fludd if you want a shorter introduction before committing to an epic.
9 books · 7 sources · Last updated
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Reading Hilary Mantel in order? See all Hilary Mantel books in order
How to choose from this list
Skip to the full rankingIf you want the Cromwell trilogy: Wolf Hall → Bring Up the Bodies → The Mirror and the Light
If you want a standalone historical epic: A Place of Greater Safety
If you want shorter historical fiction: The Giant, O'Brien
If you want satire and the uncanny: Fludd → Beyond Black
If you want memoir and shorter nonfiction: Giving Up the Ghost → Mantel Pieces
The 9 books, ranked
Ranked by how many expert sources name each book. Ties go to the book more people recommend.
For readers who want political history experienced through a closely rendered mind. Cromwell’s perspective gives court maneuvering an intimate texture, though the dense cast and shifting references require attention, especially near the beginning.
What it's about
Wolf Hall follows Thomas Cromwell's rise from brutalised blacksmith's son to chief fixer in Henry VIII's court, as the king seeks to divorce Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Everyday negotiations, jokes and threats quietly decide the fate of England.
Also recommended by
2 people
Barack Obama recommended this bookBarack Obama
Barack Obama's favorite books of 2019 list.
Barack Obama's recommendation of this book 
Christopher Hitchens recommended this bookChristopher Hitchens
"A service to the history it depicts, and puts the author in the very first rank of historical novelists." - Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens's recommendation of this book
For readers ready to complete the Cromwell trilogy. Its longer, more reflective treatment gives established relationships room to resonate, though the scale and accumulated references make it a demanding continuation rather than a standalone entry point.
What it's about
Set after Anne Boleyn's execution, The Mirror and the Light traces Cromwell through the final years of his dominance at Henry VIII's court. As he arranges new alliances and marriages, old enemies close in, turning his hard won power into a death sentence.
Also recommended by
1 person
Craig Newmark recommended this bookCraig Newmark
"Illustrates the use, abuse, and limitations of influence—particularly when the stakes are high." - Craig Newmark
Craig Newmark's recommendation of this book
For readers continuing Cromwell’s story who want a tighter, more concentrated political drama. Its compressed timeframe sharpens the sense of pressure, though it depends on the relationships and moral ambiguities established in Wolf Hall.
What it's about
Bring Up the Bodies opens with Henry VIII growing tired of Anne Boleyn and drifting toward Jane Seymour. Thomas Cromwell is tasked with ending the royal marriage, and as he gathers rumours and testimony, he engineers a trial whose outcome he cannot fully control.
For readers who want historical fiction on a smaller scale than the Cromwell trilogy. The collision between storytelling and anatomical ambition creates a concentrated moral tension, though bodily exploitation and the dark atmosphere make it unsettling.
What it's about
The Giant, O'Brien contrasts an Irish storyteller who earns a living displaying his extraordinary height with John Hunter, a celebrated London surgeon hungry for new specimens. As O'Brien's troupe struggles to survive the city, Hunter quietly plots to claim the giant's body for science.
For readers who like dark comedy entangled with the uncanny. The suburban setting offers a striking alternative to Mantel’s historical courts, though abuse, cruelty, and oppressive atmosphere make it far from a light ghost story.
What it's about
Beyond Black follows Alison Hart, an overweight professional medium who tours English suburbs, and her efficient but sceptical assistant Colette. Alison's cheery stage persona masks a brutal childhood and a vicious spirit guide who will not leave her alone, making everyday life more frightening than any séance.
For readers curious about the experiences and perceptions behind Mantel’s fiction. The memoir makes memory, bodily pain, and family life unusually immediate, though its unsettling material and associative movement offer little conventional narrative comfort.
What it's about
Giving Up the Ghost is Mantel's unsparing memoir of growing up Catholic in Derbyshire, living with a volatile stepfather and later battling undiagnosed pain that turned out to be severe endometriosis. She writes about childlessness, houses she has loved and the ghosts that live in memory.
Mantel Pieces
For readers who prefer essays and reviews or want to sample Mantel’s range in shorter pieces. Its variety reveals interests beyond the novels, though individual subjects and historical references sometimes require background knowledge.
What it's about
Mantel Pieces gathers essays, reviews and diary pieces written over decades for a literary journal. Subjects range from Robespierre and Tudor courtiers to true crime, religion, royal bodies and life in Saudi Arabia, offering a sharp, funny companion to her novels.
For readers who want Mantel’s political imagination beyond Tudor England. The French Revolution setting provides a wide, interwoven historical canvas in one novel, though the length and crowded cast make it a substantial commitment.
What it's about
A Place of Greater Safety reimagines the French Revolution through the intertwined lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Maximilien Robespierre. From provincial childhoods to the Jacobin Club and the Terror, friendships, love affairs and private debts drive public events toward the guillotine.
For readers who want a shorter introduction to Mantel’s irreverence and imagination. Its compact village setting concentrates the satire more tightly than her historical epics, though the religious references and ambiguous supernatural elements resist straightforward explanation.
What it's about
Fludd takes place in a bleak northern village in 1956, where a doubting priest and an unhappy young nun are visited by a mysterious curate who may not be human at all. His presence unsettles a rigid Catholic parish and sparks small miracles, rebellions and escapes.
Sources
- 1
Books by Hilary Mantel
fivebooks.com
- 2
Hilary Mantel
fantasticfiction.com
- 3
Hilary Mantel Books
goodreads.com
- 4
Where to start with Hilary Mantel: a guide to her best works
thebookerprizes.com
- 5
Hilary Mantel Books in Order: Complete Guide to Every Book
historicalshelf.com
- 6
Rip hilary mantel, is there anyone who does what she does?
reddit.com
- 7
Just finished the wolf hall trilogy and looking for recs
reddit.com
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