Bookshelf

We ask readers to send us a note of any book or books they like a lot. No need for a detailed review – a couple of lines to say what’s good about it will do. John Roberts sends a tip about C.J. Samson.

For anyone who does not yet know the historical novels of C.J.Sansom, I would like to recommend them very highly indeed. Set in the reign of Henry VIII, they deal with crimes and mysteries mostly connected with important aspects of that reign (such as the dissolution of the monasteries) through the eyes of Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer of great integrity and human sensitivity. Shardlake’s views on the burning issues of his day, especially religion, are enlightened, and, while not anachronistic, likely to find sympathy with the modern reader. The plots are complex and engrossing, the set piece evocations of scenes and events of Tudor times are convincing, and the characters, major and minor, that Shardlake comes into contact with keep the reader’s interest on the boil. The books so far published in the series are:

• Sansom, C.J. (2003). Dissolution. London: MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-0542-4.
• Sansom, C.J. (2004). Dark Fire. London: MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-0544-0.
• Sansom, C.J. (2006). Sovereign. London: MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-0548-9.
• Sansom, C.J. (2008). Revelation. London: MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-9272-2.
• Sansom, C.J. (2010). Heartstone. London: Mantle. ISBN 1-4050-9273-4.

Sansom has also written a novel dealing with Spain just after the Civil War that will please many readers:
Sansom, C.J. (2006). Winter in Madrid. London: MacMillan. ISBN 1-4050-0546-7.