God forbid there might be a sequel, which I fear is on the horizon." In The Observer, Olivia Laing wrote, "Over two decades, she has gained a reputation as an elegant anatomiser of malevolence and cruelty. From the French Revolution of A Place of Greater Safety (1992) to the Middle England of Beyond Black (2005), hers are scrupulously moral – and scrupulously unmoralistic – books that refuse to shy away from the underside of life, finding even in disaster a kind of bleak and unconsoling humour. It is that supple movement between laughter and horror that makes this rich pageant of Tudor life her most humane and bewitching novel." Vanora Bennett in The Times wrote, "as soon as I opened the book I was gripped. I read it almost non-stop. When I did have to put it down, I was full of regret the story was over, a regret I still feel. This is a wonderful and intelligently imagined retelling of a familiar tale from an unfamiliar angle – one that makes the drama unfolding nearly five centuries ago look new again, and shocking again, too." A poll of literary experts by the Independent Bath Literature Festival voted Wolf Hall the greatest novel from 1995 to 2015. It also ranked third in a BBC Culture poll of the best novels since 2000. In 2019, The Guardian'''s list of the 100 best books of the 21st century ranked Wolf Hall first. Awards and nominations Winner – 2009 Booker Prize. James Naughtie, the chairman of the Booker prize judges, said the decision to give Wolf Hall the award was "based on the sheer bigness of the book. The boldness of its narrative, its scene setting...The extraordinary way that Hilary Mantel has created what one of the judges has said was a contemporary novel, a modern novel, which happens to be set in the 16th century". Winner – 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Winner – 2010 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. Winner – 2010 The Morning News Tournament of Books. Winner – 2010 Audie Award for Literary Fiction for the audiobook narrated by Simon Slater Winner – 2010 AudioFile magazine Earphone Award for the audiobook narrated by Simon Slater Adaptations Stage In January 2013, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) announced it would stage adaptations by Mike Poulton of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in its Winter season.