Point of View

Hilary Mantel writes her novel "Bring up the Bodies" in the third-person omniscient narrative from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell. She explains in her note at the end of the book that little is written of Cromwell, and so she has offered this account for her readers, focusing on the events of a few weeks from the perspective of Thomas. The third-person omniscient narrative works best for the novel as is told, for at least three reasons. The first is that, in order to set the right mood for the story, a third-person narrator's voice can use modern and medieval language combined, giving the reader a feel for medieval England without actually overwhelming the reader in older forms of English. The second is that the cast of characters is so large, so interrelated, and so vast in every way (class, rank, homes, etc.) that a third-person...