Bring Up the Bodies is an historical novel by Hilary Mantel, sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall (2009), and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII.

Wiltshire is willing to negotiate; Rochford is not, and tells Cromwell that if Anne's marriage to the King endures he will "make short work of you."

Mindful that many of those closest to Anne helped ruin his mentor, Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell relishes the opportunity to bring them down, despite being unsure that all of the evidence is true.

Having engineered the King's new marriage, and with the new Queen's family as his firm allies, his position as Henry's chief adviser is now assured.

"[11][12] In the July/August 2012 issue of Bookmarks, the book received 4 out of 5 stars, with the critical summary stating, "Bring Up the Bodies‚ profound, fierce, disturbing‚ is that rare work of historical fiction that builds a gripping world from start to end".

[14] Janet Maslin reviewed the novel positively in The New York Times: [The book's] ironic ending will be no cliffhanger for anyone even remotely familiar with Henry VIII's trail of carnage.

[15] In January 2014, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) staged a two-part adaptation of both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in its winter season, with a script by Mantel and Mike Poulton.