AWARD-winning author Hilary Mantel looks set to include Hinchingbrooke House in the third of her historical fiction trilogy about Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell, whose nephew, Richard, was granted Hinchingbrooke House in 1537.
Hinchingbrooke School librarian Tamsin Page had invited Mantel for a private tour of the house, led by history teacher Tom Wheeley, after hearing her speak at a packed Ely Cathedral earlier this week.
Ms Mantel said she was grateful for the opportunity to see inside the house in such detail and enjoyed her visit so much that she left promising to ‘try to set a scene’ in the house in the last book of her trilogy, The Mirror and the Light.
The first book of the trilogy, Wolf Hall, won her the Man Booker Prize, and she is currently promoting the second, Bring up the Bodies.
Her presence in the school and house caused much excitement, particularly among English and history students and teachers, as she could become the first-ever British writer to win the Booker prize twice having been shortlisted once again this year, a school spokesman said.
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