Lamentation

by C. J. Sansom Narrated by Steven Crossley

Overview

As Henry VIII lies on his deathbed, an incendiary manuscript threatens to tear his court apart.

Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councilors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government. As heretics are hunted across London, and radical Protestants are burned at the stake, the Catholic party focuses its attack on Henry's sixth wife -- and Matthew Shardlake's old mentor -- Queen Catherine Parr.

Shardlake, still haunted by his narrow escape from death the year before, steps into action when the beleaguered and desperate Queen summons him to Whitehall Palace to help her recover a dangerous manuscript. The Queen has authored a confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner, so radically Protestant that if it came to the King's attention it could bring both her and her sympathizers crashing down. Although the secret book was kept hidden inside a locked chest in the Queen's private chamber, it has inexplicably vanished. Only one page has been recovered -- clutched in the hand of a murdered London printer.

Shardlake's investigations take him on a trail that begins among the backstreet printshops of London, but leads him and his trusty assistant Jack Barak into the dark and labyrinthine world of court politics, a world Shardlake swore never to enter again. In this crucible of power and ambition, Protestant friends can be as dangerous as Catholic enemies, and those with shifting allegiances can be the most dangerous of all.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 12/15/2014
Everything works in Sansom’s superb sixth Matthew Shardlake novel (after 2011’s Heartstone): the murder mystery with grave political implications, the depiction of Tudor England, and the further development of a lead who’s both courageous and flawed. The “great heresy hunt of 1546” has attorney Shardlake jumpy, especially after he reluctantly witnesses the burning of four people who denied transubstantiation, the belief that the consecrated host contains the body and blood of Christ. His efforts to survive in these uncertain times are complicated when he agrees to try to locate Lamentation of a Sinner, a private work written by Henry VIII’s queen, Catherine Parr, which has been taken from her chambers. In it, the queen speaks of her belief “that salvation comes through faith and study of the Bible, not vain ceremonies,” a view that would be too radical for her capricious husband. A few days after the theft, printer Armistead Greening is found in his shop with his head beaten in—and the first page of the volume clutched in his hand. Shardlake must now also identify Greening’s killer. The rich period details burnish Sansom’s status as one of today’s top historical writers. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jeanne V. Naggar Literary Agency. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

"In [Sansom's] writing, 16th century London is vividly alive ... Atop vibrant streets, Sansom layers a rich depiction of English court life and all its pretentions and splendors. Then there's Shardlake himself, an extremely likable character ... gripping ... LAMENTATION holds its own."—Nishant Dahiya, NPR"

Utterly convincing. Historical fiction has long languished in the doldrums, despised by critics as an inferior genre. Those days are past...a fine example of the intelligent imagination playing on history [that] shows what the reader of history may often tend to forget: that events now safely in the past were once uncertainly and dangerously in the future."—Alan Massie, Wall Street Journal"

I read this in one weekend, stopping only to sleep. Not to be missed."—Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail"

Engrossing . . . Tense and exciting . . . This is a fine historical novel, one to embrace."—Nelson Appell, Southeast Missourian"

[An] excellent re-imagining of a crucial period in English history . . . This sixth Matthew Shardlake novel is a jewel, the crowning glory of an exquisite series."—John M. Formy-Duval, About.com"

Everything works in Sansom's superb sixth Matthew Shardlake novel: the murder mystery with grave political ramifications, the depiction of Tudor England, and the further development of a lead who's both courageous and flawed... Rich period details burnish Sansom's status as one of today's top historical writers."—Publishers Weekly (starred, boxed review)"

The best Shardlake yet."—Amanda Craig, The Independent"

Sansom joins history and fiction seamlessly. . . . Read it for the history or read it for the mystery, but definitely read it."—Booklist

Brilliantly sketched [with] Shakespearean characterization and Byzantine plotting: Amid all the stink and muck of Tudor London, Sansom offers a master class in royal intrigue."—Kirkus Reviews"

Sansom conjures the atmosphere, costumes and smells of Tudor London with vigour, from the gilded halls of Whitehall Palace to the dungeons of the Tower...LAMENTATION builds to a shocking climax."—Stephanie Merritt, The Guardian

PRAISE FOR C.J. SANSOM AND THE MATTHEW SHARDLAKE NOVELS:"

One of my favorite writers."—Kate Atkinson"

Among the most distinguished of modern historical novelists."—P.D. James"

Sansom has an unerring sense of pace and a deft historical touch."—The New Yorker

Kirkus Reviews

2014-12-06
Sansom follows the further adventures of Matthew Shardlake, Serjeant at Law (Heartstone, 2011, etc.), as the good lawyer is summoned by Queen Catherine during the last days of Henry VIII's reign. Amid "ancient monasteries destroyed, monks pensioned off...persecutions and burnings," Henry ripped the English church from Rome. In 1546, "Royal Supremacy" rules, but struggles remain in the king's court: Conservatives "would keep the Mass"; reformists "would end what Catholic ceremonies remain"; and among the people, secret Anabaptists strive for a classless, communal society. Sansom fills his saga with historical personages, many of whom are zealots. Others—including Shardlake's mortal enemy, Sir Richard Rich—follow royal tides. "The reformist group at court…is an alliance of family interests," and the queen is mired in the middle. 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 king's loyalty. The book has been stolen, and Shardlake is temporarily named to the Queen's Learned Council and dispatched by her uncle, Lord Parr, to retrieve it. While coping with personal household duplicity and a fractious legal dispute over a will, Shardlake stumbles in to murders, conspiracies and more than one sword fight, all set against the panorama of brilliantly sketched 16th-century London. Despite warnings that "thunder circles around thrones," Shardlake is drawn into the "gilded sewer-pit" of Whitehall, where at last he's brought to face the master manipulator, the dying Henry, "blue eyes…hard and savage." Shardlake survives only to be sent by the widowed queen to counsel the princess Elizabeth, a suggestion that another adventure awaits. Shakespearean characterization and Byzantine plotting: Amid all the stink and muck of Tudor London, Sansom offers a master class in royal intrigue.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170233892
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Series:	Matthew Shardlake , #6
Edition description:	Unabridged

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