Though I started it a decade ago, I am now finally almost finished (re)reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It is so, so good, and I have many Thoughts about it. But mostly I find myself thinking one very silly thought: how much I hope that that Hilary Mantel and Marilynne Robinson are friends.
They probably aren't, since Mantel has said she doesn't have many friends, but I can't help but wish it anyway. It's a wonderful time to be alive when there are two excellent writers obsessed with history and the reformation—and writing popular books about it! I like to imagine they have a whatsapp chat full of references to obscure early modern texts and jokes about various Cromwells.
In reality, they probably dislike each other. Don't we usually find people too similar to us to be grating? And I'm sure they aren't on whatsapp at all—they're too productive. But I will continue to hope they're friends. And that some day they invite me to have dinner with them, where I will be too awestruck to say anything.
They probably aren't, since Mantel has said she doesn't have many friends, but I can't help but wish it anyway. It's a wonderful time to be alive when there are two excellent writers obsessed with history and the reformation—and writing popular books about it! I like to imagine they have a whatsapp chat full of references to obscure early modern texts and jokes about various Cromwells.
In reality, they probably dislike each other. Don't we usually find people too similar to us to be grating? And I'm sure they aren't on whatsapp at all—they're too productive. But I will continue to hope they're friends. And that some day they invite me to have dinner with them, where I will be too awestruck to say anything.
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