Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Mantel describes a scene for a few paragraphs, ends on some moody ominous statement, leaves a blank space, and then jumps into the next scene. This happens thousands of times. There's no narrative flow, there's no forward motion, there's no explanation or background; there are just ominous pauses and descriptions of the weather. The book is told in the present tense, which is irritating and illogical. The only reason I had any idea what was going on in this book is that I majored in Tudor history. Why in heaven's name has Mantel gone to the trouble of learning this much about the Tudors simply to write these scattered, moody little set-pieces that will probably leave most readers baffled?