The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

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Actor Mark Rylance, seen here as Thomas Cromwell in Masterpiece's Wolf Hall, views Cromwell as a survivor who knows how to manipulate power to his advantage. "He has the mind of a chess player," Rylance says. Giles Keyte/Playground & Company Pictures for Masterpiece/BBC hide caption

John Hargrove, a trainer who spent 14 years working with orcas, mostly at SeaWorld, eventually became disillusioned with the company's treatment of its killer whales. Courtesy of Palgrave Macmillan Trade hide caption

Models show designs by Oscar de la Renta at the 1973 Versailles show. De la Renta was one of the first American designers to sign on for the catwalk competition. Daniel Simon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images hide caption

The empty frame from which thieves cut Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee remains on display at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The painting was one of 13 works stolen from the museum in 1990. Josh Reynolds/AP hide caption

Mai Tai Sing dances with her husband, Wilbur Tai Sing, in 1942. Courtesy DeepFocus Productions Inc. hide caption

Terry Pratchett wrote more than 70 books. Rob Wilkins/Courtesy of Doubleday hide caption