Tombland by C. J. Sansom
Tombland by C. J. Sansom is the seventh book in the Matthew Shardlake series and so far the last one. The story takes place in 1549 and Shardlake is in Norfolk, at the time of Kett’s rebellion.
So far I’ve enjoyed all his books and I would gladly read more books in the series, if he will publish more. But, this time I was able to give the book only 4.5 stars. It is a bit too long and with a few adjustments, like removing the whole story about Simon, which brought nothing to the story for me, would have been better.
I liked how his assistant, Nicholas Overton, develops in the book. He is a much more likeable character than Barak, or even Shardlake, if I think of only this last book.
Shardlake was a lovely character so far, but this time he started to annoy me. He was, quite surprisingly, with the rebels, even when they showed aggression, when he was framed with something he did not do. At the end of the book, Sansom adds to the story some rather graphic images of what the soldiers did. I saw no point for that. In the end, the rebels and the soldiers were from the same classes. Furthermore, in the real world, as Sansom writes in his great historical essay at the end of the book, the lawyer the rebels captured escaped, as I imagine any intelligent lawyer would do at that time, in that situation.
When it comes to historical fiction I don’t get hang up on details, but not when it comes to Sansom, because he writes about the real things that happened. This book had that 50 pages essay at the end, so I was expecting a more accurate interpretation. Anyway, this is just my personal view, and, despite this annoying little thing, I still gave 4.5 stars and I would highly recommend it.
Tombland by C. J. Sansom
Details about the picture: I didn’t have a 16th century camp as backdrop for my picture, so I’ve used an old stone fence and some trees instead.
My rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: Yes
Published by: Pan MacMillan – Mantle
Year it was published: 2018
Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Pages: 866
About the author: Christopher John Sansom is an English writer of crime novels. Born in 1952, he gained a BA and a PhD in history at the University of Birmingham. He worked as a solicitor, in Sussex, before deciding to work as a full-time writer.
He is known for his series of mystery historical fiction novels taking place in the 16th century. The main character is hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake. An adaptation of Dissolution is commissioned by the BBC and the others might follow. Winter in Madrid is a thriller set in 1940 Spain and deals with the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.
Matthew Shardlake series: Dissolution, Dark Fire, Sovereign, Revelation, Heartstone, Lamentation, Tombland.
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I’ve just read tombland this year. I’m hoping for more. I’m glad I was not the only one who find barak and shardlake annoying in this book. Honestly, I like shardlake, but in this book I don’t know. Nicholas was by far my fave character in tombland, since his character development. Which makes me want more from him. I think the graphic soldier incident was written just so to make them look more like the bad guys.. that’s what I thought the soldiers and rebels are of the same class so it isn’t necessary to add such incident. And last any sensible lawyer or person who has the opportunity would have escaped. But still love shardlake and all the series 😊
Thank you for stopping by and for your comment. I fully agree with what you said about the book.
Valid criticisms, so I’m glad you still enjoyed it overall. Let’s keep our fingers crossed he’ll write another!
Kelly recently posted…The Declaration of Independence
I hope he will write another one, because I loved the series. I’m very happy I saw the review on your blog and I’ve decided to read them.