Falken

"Look at my son Thomas the wrong way, and he'll poke your eye out. Trip him, and he'll cut off your leg," says his father about the young Cromwell. Thirty-five years later, Thomas Cromwell has left behind the modest circumstances of his childhood home. His rise at the court of Henry VIII runs parallel to that of Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife, for whom he broke with Rome and established his own church. However, Henry's behavior has maneuvered England into a corner, and Anne has been unable to bear him a male heir. In Wolf Hall, the king falls in love with the quiet Jane Seymour. Cromwell understands what is at stake: the welfare of the entire nation. In an attempt to untangle the erotic traps and web of intrigues, he must bring to light a "truth" that will satisfy Henry and secure his own career. Yet neither minister nor king emerges unscathed from the bloody drama surrounding Anne's final days. Falcons is the bold vision of a Tudor society whose shadows reach into our time. And it is the work of a great author at the height of her powers.