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The Cardinal

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The Cardinal

By: Alison Weir
Narrated by: Nick Biadon
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About this listen

Step into the thrill and intrigue of Tudor England and discover the secret life of Cardinal Wolsey in the rich, compelling new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Alison Weir.

'A rich and textured portrait of Cardinal Wolsey' THE TIMES
'Nobody brings historical characters to life like Alison Weir' TRACY BORMAN

AN EXTRAORDINARY RISE TO POWER. A TRAGIC FALL FROM GRACE.

It begins with young Tom Wolsey, the bright and brilliant son of a Suffolk tradesman, sent to study at Oxford at just eleven years old.

It ends with a disgraced cardinal, cast from the King's side and estranged from the woman he loves.

The years in between tell the story of a scholar and a lover, a father and a priest. From the court of Henry VIII, Tom builds a powerful empire of church and state. At home in London, away from prying eyes, he finds joy in a secret second life.

But when King Henry, his cherished friend, demands the ultimate sacrifice, what will Wolsey choose?

Alison Weir's riveting new Tudor novel reveals the two lives of Cardinal Wolsey, a tale of power, passion and ambition.

©2025 Alison Weir (P)2025 Headline Publishing Group Limited Biographical Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Renaissance England Tudor Royalty

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All stars
Most relevant  
I am making it my mission to read all of this authors books and this one was a joy!
As always the writing was clear and easy.
Whether you had known about Wolsey before or not, this book is excellent and recommend it thoroughly.
Narration great too!

Entertaining

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As someone whose previous impression of Cardinal Wolsey came mostly from Wolf Hall, I didn’t know a great deal about him going into this book. Alison Weir’s Cardinal changed that completely. At over 16 hours, it could have felt daunting—but it absolutely flew by. The narration is strong, well-paced, and engaging, which made it easy to stay immersed.

Weir presents Wolsey as a deeply complex figure—brilliant, ambitious, and often conflicted. I came away with far more insight into his character and actions than I expected, though I still can’t quite decide if I actually liked him. Did he truly love and serve the king, or did he simply fawn over Henry VIII for personal gain? Did his pursuit of power cost him his relationship with Joan Larke and the more human side of himself? The book doesn’t offer easy answers, and that’s part of what makes it so compelling.

Much like Wolf Hall, I found the intricacies and politics of the Tudor court utterly fascinating. Weir's portrayal of the key players is balanced and nuanced—she doesn’t vilify or glorify, but instead allows readers to weigh motivations and flaws for themselves.

I’d thoroughly recommend this to anyone with an interest in Tudor history, especially those wanting to explore some of the lesser-understood but highly influential figures in Henry VIII’s orbit. Whether you're new to Wolsey or know the basics, Cardinal offers fresh perspective and plenty to reflect on

A Fascinating and Human Portrait of Wolsey

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Outstanding story of an exceptional man. Alison is a wonderful author. You feel that you are living the life of Wolsey the man and an insight of “Harry” (Henry) as he once was. I loved listening to Nick Bladen who made the whole experience come alive.

Exceptional story

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Never really thought how cardinal Wosley lived in these times although he did lots of work to make himself richer and more powerful he really did love King Henry VIii I love the idea of calling Anne Boleyn the night owl All in all an excellent book well written and brilliantly captivating story

Amazing book

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Not a great narrator....pronunciation of some words really bugged me: e.g. alarm was pronounced al_ar_up (why?) and 'worry'was pronounced 'worry' rather than 'wurry'. Minor things but irritating when they kept cropping up.

Great story - irritating narration.

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It’s hard to empathise with a man like Cardinal Wolsey, whose excesses were obscene given his position in the church, and yet Alison Weir has given an honest bare bones account of his life and the influences around him, which did lead me to almost like him! I’m not sure how close to the truth the story is about his feelings for Joan and the number of her children he sired, but her love for him gives him a much more sympathetic edge to his character than perhaps he deserved. A fascinating glimpse into history, superbly written and narrated. I immersed myself in it and am now thirsting for more historical fiction!

Thoroughly enjoyable account

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As soon as I learned of this latest Alison Weir novel, I jumped at getting it. Interestingly, this may be the first she has written from the perspective of a man; most of her writing of fictionalised historical events focusing on women as the central characters.

Cardinal Wolsey is one of those pivotal figures in Henry's court, learned, hard working, and ultimately a flawed individual, not immune to the lure of power and wealth despite him being a man of the cloth. I would like Weir to continue this trend, via her excellent fictional fleshing-out of historical facts, and write novels on both Thomas Moore and Thomas Cromwell.

One thing you will quickly find in this story is the Tudor preponderance for the name Thomas. There's too many here, and Weir has to use Tom, Thomas and Tommy to differentiate them at times.

The story starts off simplistically, depicting Wolsey's early life. At this stage in the novel, I wasn't gripped by the story, finding it rather flat and a story-by-numbers affair. It felt as if Weir was out of her comfort zone when having to create a past with little historical information to work with.

However, once the history furnishes Weir with rich detail from which to work her magic by expertly weaving a fictional thread to connect the missing gaps in the historical record, the novel really begins to shine.

Her ability to write scintillating and lengthy dialogue exchanges in the style of the time, albeit modernised, is superb. You can honestly believe her fictionalised dialogue is exactly what history’s most fascinating and complex characters would have said had their words in private been chronicled.

Wolsey, like so many in that era, was a complex man. Much casual history paints a person as one thing or another, ignoring the nuances and subtleties of their character. This novel has greatly increased my understanding of the man, and in no small part, allowed me to empathise with his plight despite his materialism. He's human, and thus has flaws and weaknesses , which makes for a rich tapestry that Weir expertly guides the reader through.

The narrator was new to me, and although competent with a pleasant voice, I felt, particularly in the early stages, his delivery more fitting for a Harry potter story. His tone and delivery lacked gravitas, though I either got used to it farther into the novel, or he sounded more serious. Another oddity with the narrator; he seemed to pronounce some basic words very strangely. The one time he said perseverance, it came out as per-severance. He also said the word alarms in an odd way. Finally, I was initially confused, believing I'd missed some key historical character when failing to initially recognise what sounded very much as "Berlin" with "Bowlyn." Apart from those minor gripes, he was able to deliver multiple accents that were nearly all convincing (I think the Spanish accent had a trace of Scottish in it from time to time).

Weir has masterfully combined fact and fiction to create a work that builds as the novel progresses, and it will leave you thinking on the man's life, his rise and fall, and his love and loss.

Holy Imperfect

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Well researched but there’s no drama. Given that Wolsey was the most powerful man in England at a very significant time, this book manages to drain all the colour out of what could have been a compelling narrative. He comes across as a whiny pratt.

Turns Wolsey into whiny idiot

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I felt the story was oversimplified. The narrator was competent but I felt a different narrator would have made more of it.

Rather disappointing

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