Sovereign (The Shardlake series, 3)

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A. Torture was illegal in England, though sometimes practiced, until Tudor times. This was a contrast to the rest of Europe. Henry VIII, completely ruthless and faced with widespread opposition to his religious policies, legalized it in cases of treason. Shardlake, still haunted by events aboard the warship Mary Rose the year before, is working on the Cotterstoke Will case, a savage dispute between rival siblings. Then, unexpectedly, he is summoned to Whitehall Palace and asked for help by his old patron, the now beleaguered and desperate Queen. Q. A number of reviewers have compared your Shardlake novels with the work of Umberto Eco, especially The Name of the Rose. How do you feel about such comparisons? Is Eco an influence on your fiction? to 4.5 stars. Okay, okay, that was a bit much and the Holmes stories are actually quite good. However, I find the Matthew Shardlake series and the writing of C.J. Sansom to be substantially better. These are true blue historical mysteries that pull you completely into the time of the story (in this case 1541).

The Times A serial killer is using the Book of Revelation for his murders in this outstanding whodunit featuring the bestselling Tudor lawyer Matthew Shardlake. This is not the only attempt on Shardlake's life during the course of the novel, and there are deaths, conspiracies and secrets aplenty for him to contend with, as the Progress stalls in York for many days. Several unpleasant characters emerge as the story unfolds, including the harsh gaoler, Radwinter, the scheming power-broker Sir William Maleverer, the fierce-tempered servant Jennet Marlin and the bitchy Lady-in-Waiting, Jane Rochford. They vex Shardlake and Barak, throwing all sorts of obstacles, both literal and figurative, in the path of their investigations.Sansom exhibits a multifarious skill. Not only can he write well and build a believable world, he also knows how to incorporate his research into his books so that it does not feel like research. The numbers involved also allow for a rare sense of scale, creating bustling street scenes and grand processions. It’s a lot of bodies to choreograph, something that co-directors Juliet Forster, Mingyu Lin and John R Wilkinson do skilfully. There are some moments where the narrative sags or the stage pictures lose focus. But overall, Sovereign makes for a fitting celebration of York’s people and its long theatrical history. A. I think the use of torture as a routine policy instrument by Stalin and Hitler so horrified the world that it was outlawed in international law. I wasn’t consciously thinking of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo when I wrote Sovereign, but quite possibly it influenced me subconsciously. Abu Ghraib was bad enough but the chilling thing about Guantánamo is that practices that clearly constitute torture were given official sanction. Worse, they have a vengeful flavor about them. States do not have the right to indulge themselves in that way. Clea Simon of The Boston Globe wrote that Sovereign was not only longer, but demonstrated greater depth of plot than Sansom's previous novels, calling it an "engaging mix of history and fiction". [3] Not only a great detective novel but also a fabulous insight into the historical happenings of the Tudor period, this book is an absorbing read. * Tesco Magazine *

Book Review: “The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracies, Treason, and Heresy at the Court of the Dying Tyrant” by RobertHutchinson Of course, since this novel touches on the relationship between Henry VIII and Catherine Howard, Sansom had to include a way for Shardlake to meet these two, as well as confront figures like Lady Rochford, Culpepper, Dereham, and of course Sir Richard Rich. The way he does this is ingenious. Sansom’s attention to details of the Progress is nothing short of extraordinary. Compared to the first two books, this one is much darker as you are unsure how Shardlake and Barak will ever get out of their dangerous situations, but that is what makes it so remarkable.Antonia Fraser, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year Even if heart-pounding suspense and stomach-tightening tension were all Sansom’s writing brought to the table, few would feel short-changed. Added to these gifts is a superb approximation of the crucible of fear, treachery and mistrust that was Tudor England, and a memorably blood-swollen portrait of the ogreish Henry’s inhumane kingship. A parchment-turner, and a regal one at that. Q. During the gruesome Tower episode, Shardlake screams out that “torture is illegal in England.” I think many readers will find this statement surprising in that it occurs in a novel set in a time of widespread religious persecution. What is the legal provision, if any, behind his statement? The Sovereign (a.k.a. Sovereign Apartments), residential skyscraper on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City, USA.

No me gustaría terminar sin destacar la ambientación. Sansom busca con su narración ofrecernos una atmosfera de un York deprimido y en decadencia, lo que unido a la caza de brujas que el rey y sus partidarios llevaban a cabo tras la desvinculación de la iglesia católica, nos hace aproximarnos a la angustia y la incertidumbre que debía de vivir la gente en aquel intrincado momento. I have enjoyed C. J. Sansom's series of historical novels set in Tudor England progressively more and more. Sovereign, following Dissolution and Dark Fire, is the best so far . . . Sansom has the perfect mixture of novelistic passion and historical detail. I need more stars! How did it take me this long to discover CJ Sansom? I'm not sure, but I am grateful for this book showing up in a local used book store and catching my eye. A group read of Dissolution got me started on this series, and the rest, as they say, is history. Q. A related question: Radwinter, Maleverer, Jacob Rawling, and Shardlake, among others, all profess different views about the use and effectiveness of torture. In dramatizing the debate as you did in the novel, did you have in mind the fairly recent scandals in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay? Have our views of torture changed much since the Reformation? But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age . . .La reforma religiosa, los escándalos maritales (el rey se acaba de casar con la 5ª, Catalina Howard), la escasa legitimidad de la dinastía, apuntalada en escasos y dudosos vínculos con las casas de York y de Lancaster, la crueldad del rey que reprime con gran dureza a los que se oponen a él tanto en política como en religión, han llevado al límite la estabilidad del trono. Para apuntalarla el rey decide hacer un viaje al norte el año de 1541 (una Jornada), para reprimir traiciones, recabar adhesiones, recibir pleitesías y derrochar su munificencia.

At one point Maleverer says to Shardlake, “I wish I could afford your scruples.” It does seem to be a rather unscrupulous time, but are there other examples besides those of Shardlake of characters who exhibit ethical behavior even when not politically or financially expedient? The character of Matthew Shardlake is so skillfully developed that I have to remind myself that he is a fictional character. With his placement as legal council just lowly enough that the reader gets a view of common people and just high enough that he is called upon by Archbishop Cranmer, Shardlake finds himself swept up in intrigue between northern rebels and the tyrannical Henry VIII. We all know what it’s like to anticipate something so much that we are literally shaking with excitement. Shardlake had similar feelings about meeting his king; he couldn’t wait to behold the presence of King Henry VIII. Except when that moment finally comes it almost breaks Shardlake in two.

One of the reasons I'm such a fan of the Matthew Shardlake series is the thoroughness of the research done by the author, which enriches the story in ways that stimulate the intellect while satisfying the emotions. Googling Sansom, I found he has had scholarly articles published in professional journals regarding the King's Northern Progress, because so little research has been done on this topic by history academics. Always in his Afterwords, Sansom indicates his references and suggests further reading for those interested in the issues. Having said that, this is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery novel, suitably labyrinthine in its plot, as was so typical of the goings-on in the court of Henry VIII. There’s more than one kind of mystery at play in this adaptation of CJ Sansom’s historical crime novel. The scene opens not on Matthew Shardlake, Sansom’s lawyer-detective protagonist, but on a centuries-old local theatrical tradition: the York Mystery Plays, performed on wagons by city guildswomen. Until, that is, Henry VIII arrives, putting an end to this much-loved ritual.