Mantel’s ‘Wolf Hall’ wins Man Booker prize

LONDON -- A tale of political intrigue set during the reign of King Henry VIII has won the prestigious Man Booker prize for fiction.

Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" scooped the 50,000-pound ($80,000) prize. Mantel's novel charts the upheaval caused by the king's desire to marry Anne Boleyn, as seen through the eyes of royal adviser Thomas Cromwell.

Mantel's novel beat stiff competition from a shortlist that included previous Booker winners A.S. Byatt and J.M. Coetzee.

Mantel told a London audience that winning the Booker Prize was like being in a train crash. "At this moment I am happily flying through the air," she said.

Mantel, 57, spent five years writing "Wolf Hall" and is working on a sequel.