When it comes to intriguing tudorbased narratives, hilary mantel has a serious rival sunday times sansom has the trick of writing an enthralling narrative. Five stars again for this the fifth book in the matthew shardlake series. J sansom, who used to practice as a lawyer for his living came to prominence with the shardlake series. Exciting and elegantly written, dissolution is an utterly compelling first novel and a riveting portrayal of tudor england. Sansoms three books have won praise for their evocations of the brutality of life in the tudor period and for his. After working in a variety of jobs, he retrained as a solicitor and practised in sussex, until becoming a fulltime writer. Sansom came to prominence with the shardlake series, his historical mystery series set in the reign of henry viii in the 16th century. I first studied the spanish civil war as my undergraduate special subject at university, so gained a very good introduction to sources in english on the period.
Set during the reign of tudor monarch henry viii it features heavily on the religious conflict of the period. Since the old kings death, matthew shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of henrys younger. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading dark fire. Sansom, the first in his series about matthew shardlake. Matthew shardlake is a lawyerdetective in the court of henry viii. There are no spoilers as such but knowledge, say, that a character is a friend in later books does mean that you dismiss them as suspects in a current book. We personally assess every books quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the catholic church and those loyal to the king and the newly established church of england. Sansom was educated at birmingham university, where he took a ba and then a phd in history. In particular, it examines the question of whether the sixteenthcentury fictional lawyer shardlake can serve as a role model for twentyfirstcentury lawyers, both in terms of his ethics and his professionalism. This latest in the series is set in a somewhat lesser known tudor period of the reign of the young king edward vi and the surprisingly little known rebellion in norwitch which cost many hundreds of lives. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. The book has been stolen, and shardlake is temporarily named to the queens learned council and dispatched by her uncle, lord parr, to retrieve it.
Sansom author of dominion, winter in madrid and the historical crime series shardlake. Sansoms matthew shardlake series, given the fact that book 6 in the series, lamentation, has just been published after a wait of 4 years. Sansom is a real historian and depicts such a fascinating world for shardlake to inhabit. Media type, print hardcover and paperback, audiobook, ebook. Although this is the least strong of the books interesting time but characters a little confusing.
By now he is married to catherine parr and he is not a well man although he is still pursuing his unfortunate desire to war against the french. Christopher john sansom is a british writer of historical crime novels. However, throughout the series, the writing is so good that you dont really feel youre reading historical novels, you are immersed in the books, which are real pageturners. Matthew shardlake, a fascinating character caught in a balancing act of faith, humanity and allegiance as he tries to solve a series of horrible crimes. A fifth shardlake book will be coming out this autumn its called heartstone and is set in the final years of henry viiis reign. A few months ago, i developed a concept of ten essential ingredients for favourite historical fiction. It is sansoms sixth novel, and the fifth in the matthew shardlake series. The sixth and to date most recent book from cj sansom featuring lawyer matthew shardlake. Each book progresses us a little more through the reign of henry viii.
A matthew shardlake tudor mystery matthew shardlake mysteries book 2 kindle edition by sansom, c. Sansom s number one bestselling shardlake series, for fans of hilary mantel and philippa gregory. Sansom paints a vivid picture of the corruption that plagued england during the reign of henry viii, and the wry, rueful shardlake is a memorable protagonist, a compassionate man committed to. He worked as a lawyer in sussex before deciding to move to writing fulltime. As henry viii falls gravely ill, a bitter political power struggle unfolds. Sansom present a fullyrealised picture of life in reformation englandits sounds, sights, smells and politicsbut he also gives an intriguing puzzle and, in the form of dr. Sansom made his debut as a published author in 2003 with the novel. Heartstone is a historical mystery novel by british author c. Time to test another top author against those ingredients. The series main character is the hunchbacked lawyer matthew shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by mark poer, then jack barak and also nicholas overton. Heartstone matthew shardlake by c j sansom is in the bookbags christmas gift recommendations 2010. Although the shardlake novels read well as standalone books it is best to read them in chronolgical order. Sansomwill dazzle both mystery fans and tudor history buffs. What inspired you to write a book about spain and specifically about the period of time after the spanish civil war.
Shardlake is asked by henrys sixth wife queen catherine parr to investigate the theft of a book from her apartments in the palace. Id always thought the dissolution of the monasteries would make a great setting for a. Sansoms number one bestselling shardlake series, for fans of hilary mantel and. Gaining strong academic credentials over the years as well, hes also managed to make a name for himself with his keen penchant for accuracy within his work. The novel sparked the bestselling shardlake series, following the sixteenthcentury lawyerdetective matthew shardlake and his assistant jack barak as. No skimming allowed or even needed when the author writes this well. Queen catherine, whom shardlake admires as the most good and honorable lady i have ever met, has written lamentation of a sinner, a religious confession, which may cost her the kings loyalty. Not so the novels of cj sansom, whose magnificent books set in the reign of.
Shop amongst our popular books, including 34, tombland, dissolution and more from c. In this book matthew shardlake is assigned a mission by the first earl of essex thomas cromwell. Heartstone matthew shardlake by c j sansom thebookbag. Dissolution is the first in the phenomenal shardlake series by bestselling author, c. When a royal commissioner is murdered in the monastery of scarsea, thomas cromwell, henry. Set in the 16th century during the reign of king henry viii, the events of the novel take place in the summer of 1545. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and videos from thousands of public libraries worldwide. A matthew shardlake tudor mystery matthew shardlake mysteries book 2. Tombland the shardlake series kindle edition by sansom. C j sansom appreciation society public group facebook.
Two years after the death of henry viii, england is slidi. Theyre all exceptional books and you might as well get the best out of them. Sansoms bestselling matthew shardlake series is available to preorder in hardback, ebook and audiobook now the eagerly anticipated new novel from one of britains best loved historical fiction authors follows matthew shardlake as he investigates. It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest. One of britains bestselling historical novelists, c. A series of british 16thcentury historical crimemystery novels set during the turbulent years of king henry viiis reign, featuring lawyer matthew shardlake. Tombland shardlake, book 7 by c j sansom fantastic fiction. I wont give any spoilers but it is a couple of years after the last book and edward is on the throne. Pan macmillan are thrilled to share that we will be publishing the new c. It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Shardlake works on commission initially from thomas cromwell in dissolution and dark fire.
C j sansoms matthew shardlake novels in chronological order. C j sansoms matthew shardlake novels in chronological. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading tombland the shardlake series. The shardlake series is a series of historical mystery novels by c. I have missed matthew shardlake while we have been waiting for this next adventure to be published but i guess it takes a while to write 850 perfect pages. Sansom worked first as a historian and then as a lawyer before combining both in his darkly fascinating novel of monastic murder and politics in his first novel dissolution. Tudor england is brought vividly to life in tombland, the seventh novel in c. Henry viii has proclaimed himself supreme head of the church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Here you will find exclusive insights and behindthescenes.
Thankfully that has turned out not to be true and he has delivered another thrilling instalment in this series. Dark fire is the second thrilling historical crime novel in the shardlake series by c. Sansom was born in 1952, an upbringing which helped inspire much his career that was to come. J download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Tombland the shardlake series kindle edition by sansom, c.
Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. Sansom, set in the reign of henry viii in the 16th century sansom has said that he plans to write further shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of elizabeth i. It has been several years since his last book and i was worrying that was it. As with all of sansoms tudor novels it stars the hunchback lawyer, matthew shardlake, and his sidekick, jack barak. Dissolution is the first book in the series, where we meet matthew shardlake, a lawyer and occasional fixer for thomas cromwell. Dark fire won the 2005 cwa ellis peters historical dagger and sansom was very highly commended in the 2007 cwa dagger in the library award, for the shardlake series. C j sansoms next shardlake novel set during peasant. Sarah crown talks to cj sansom, the creator of matthew shardlake. Come in, pull a chair up to the hearth and indulge in. The first ever writing to get published was dissolution in the year 2003 published by the famous macmillan house in london. The bestselling dissolution is followed by dark fire. I am pretty sure that they actually did this and it just wasnt included.
An examination of the shardlake series as a whole yields some uncertain answers, both as to shardlake. Ps,dont know about you but i fell a bit in love with shardlake in the first book, then came along dark fire and i fell head. C j sansoms seventh matthew shardlake novel tombland will be published by mantle in october. The clever plotting and brilliantly evoked world of heartstonethe fifth matthew shardlake mystery from bestselling author c. Matthew shardlake, believing himself out of favour with thomas cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a. Sansom is a british author of historical fiction and mystery novels. Sansom it is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in england since 1066. Another totally brilliant book in this wonderful series by c.