It’s been a year since Heartstone, and Matthew Shardlake’s life is going reasonably well. He has a new steward, a new Law clerk, and Jack and Tamasin are soon to welcome their second child. True, he hasn’t seen Queen Katherine Parr in that time, the religious needle has swung slightly more to the “punishing Protestants” side meaning he’s going to have to burn some of his favorite books, and he has to represent Lincoln’s Court at the burning of Anne Askew for heresy, but that’s all temporary. Unfortunately for him, it all is: the Queen soon summons him to her. In a moment of weakness, Queen Katherine has written Lamentation of a Sinner, a book detailing her views on religious life. While not too treasonous, it does sail slightly too close to the wind, and Archbishop Cranmer urged her to burn it. Before she could, however, it was stolen from her bedchamber. With Henry’s health failing, his temper rising, and the religious fate of the country uncertain, can Matthew Shardlake find the manuscript before Katherine becomes the third divorced wife of Henry by execution? Because if he doesn’t, it’s not going to be just Katherine who falls: it will be anyone close to her, Shardlake included, and maybe the future of Protestantism in England…..
Well, this was certainly a book. Not since Sovereign has a book in this series had such a slow build-up to a sudden rush of action like here. Partly through the book it became obvious who had Lamentation of a Sinner, and why they hadn’t done anything with it yet.
I can’t believe what happens to Jack, but boy, Tamasin, way to not only not blame your husband for his part in it, but also to not really know the man you married and are having children with.
Guy, I felt like would have had a vastly different reaction to the events that occur during this book if the Queen Katherine Shardlake was helping was of Aragon, not Parr.
I also love that Shardlake seems to go through servants like some people go through tissues. Is he too trusting or too naive?
When she read the book, my mother said that there were two events in the book that reminded her of the wtf? Moment with either Sirius’ death in Order of the Phoenix, or “Lord Voldemort was back” in Goblet of Fire; and oh boy, can I see what she means.
This book is also probably the culmination of Shardlake royally pissing off people in the realm that he really shouldn’t be; you are officially a guppy out in the ocean at this point, Matthew. Even having figured out who had the book, I never expected Shardlake to be so annoying as to warrant a personal confrontation with them. Never expected Matthew Shardlake to come down in the religious divide very close to the description of “Atheistic Anabaptist”, but apparently that’s were we’re going here.
And now he’s closer to Princess Elizabeth; with his noticing her “budding breasts”, (under a stomacher? And dude, she’s going on fourteen; really?) let’s hope she’s not the latest in a long line of strong-minded women in high (frequently higher than him) social classes Shardlake is going to become besotted by.
One of the things I have always found fascinating is how little CJ Sansom hid his strong dislike for Henry VIII; it comes across loud and clear how truly bad of a King Sansom thought Henry was. What Sansom also brings up, is the fact the Protestantism under Henry would far more accurately called Roman Catholic Lite. What Henry wanted was to be the Head of the Church, with all the power, prestige, ego-boosting (and wealth) that came with it; the actual rites for the large part he was fine with leaving as is, and the monasteries were mostly dissolved for the land and the wealth they contained. Quite a few people believe Henry divorces Catherine of Aragon, England becomes Protestant, life goes on. The Shardlake series shows what dangerous times it was to figure out where exactly you were to be in your worship. What worked at the time six months later could have you put to death. It was to live in interesting times.
I’m six books into a seven book series, and to be honest, I’m kind of glad. The series has been reasonably enjoyable so far, but it is getting a little much at this point; I’m sorry Sansom died before he finished the eight book, but on the other hand I will be quite thankful to read the next book (in maybe four to six books; I need a break between books) and put Matthew Shardlake to bed.