A review by Brenda Daniels
Photo by Brenda Daniels
Lamentation, a new release by C J Sansom, is an historical novel set during the final years of King Henry VIII’s reign. Henry VIII and his turbulent 1500s reign has garnered much fascinated interest over the years and this story is a wonderful addition to the wealth of information available. The novel is also the latest in the Shardlake series.
In Lamentation, lawyer Matthew Shardlake becomes involved in a mysterious case at the highest political level: he is called in by Queen Catherine Parr to help recover her book Lamentation of a Sinner. Written as a heartfelt account of her journey to faith in God, the disappearance of this Protestant confession is potentially disastrous for the Queen because of the tense Catholic/Protestant political environment.
The investigation leads Shardlake into difficult and very dangerous situations and the principled lawyer is forced to rely heavily on the help of his co-workers Barak and Nicholas.
From the book’s gripping beginning (the burning of a Protestant heretic) to its closing pages, Lamentation delivers a tense, exciting read. Concerned friends, shady criminals and self-serving politicians people the adventure, with each person forming an integral part of the plot. Character development is well executed.
I thoroughly enjoyed Sansom’s Lamentation and look forward to reading more of his work. I highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction.
For more information about the author and his works, visit his site.
Lamentation is published by Pan MacMillan.
a feast of tales 