Sovereign (The Shardlake series, 3)

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Shardlake works on commission initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution and Dark Fire and then Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation. The most recent in the series, ‘Heartstone’ has three stories running consecutively and is a far poorer book because of it. We all know what it’s like to anticipate something so much that we are literally shaking with excitement. Yes, lest this sound like only misery and torture, I must add that the story has plenty of intrigue, plots, suggested dalliances between the very young queen (18) and her former suitors, and some interesting personal developments between Shardlake, Barak, an elderly lawyer, and Tamasin, who thinks she’s the illegitimate daughter of a gentleman of importance. And part of Shardlake’s assignment is to look after and transport a prisoner to London where he will be tortured in the tower.

You don't have to have read the other two first as back story is mentioned briefly, but I have read the previous books and love that Shardlake is now becoming a very familiar voice. When one thinks about a royal Progress, we often think about the glitz and glam of the royal family traversing the entire country at a leisurely rate to inspire awe for their subjects. I’m not normally a fan of superhero narratives, and then I find an exception that grabs me by the throat and makes me love it. The peasants have to provide all the food, contribute to a stash of gold to be presented to the King, and put up with their fields being muddied and trashed by soldiers and others camping in them.

However, that is really a fairly minor quibble and some may even appreciate the stretching out of the narrative. Antonia Fraser, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year Even if heart-pounding suspense and stomach-tightening tension were all Sansom’s writing brought to the table, few would feel short-changed. Shardlake hadn't long been in York when a glazier was murdered and he found himself embroiled in mysteries which could have brought down the Tudor throne. Barak , a brawling street boy who , became a clerk to Thomas Cromwell , is constantly by Shardlake's side , and in this novel, finds the love of the pretty and pert Tamasin Reedbourne , and attendant to noblewoman Mistress Jennet Marlin , who herself is a central character in the intrigue.

The papers are glimpsed by Shardlake before he is knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant who flees with the papers. It is one of those series that you have to read from start to finish, even though each adventure is a treat by themselves. He suffers a lot of cruel jibes and ridicule during his time in York, including a humiliation at the hands of the king, which completes the disillusionment with Henry which has been growing in him since Dissolution. Dark Fire revolved around the – frankly preposterous – notion of a vastly powerful flammable chemical being unearthed by Henry VIII’s agents.I will leave it there and just say that the intertwining plots and subplots are very well done and engrossing. The moat is surrounded by reeds, and Radwinter explains that they are being gathered to make rushlights. That is part of Shardlake’s role in York – to see that a noble prisoner is well-cared for and fit to be brought back to London for Henry’s inquisitors.

Quelques jours pendant lesquels Matthew Shardlake se liera d'une grande amitié avec un avocat de York, plus âgé que lui, une figure parternelle pour lui, et pendant lesquels un mystérieux ennemi attentera plusieurs fois à sa vie. I personally do not agree with this theory about this particular person’s origins, but it did not take away from my enjoyment of this book. The legend himself, King Henry VIII, who is glittery and magnanimous to his people, but if you cross him, his true colors come out in full force.

The novel opens in 1541, as Henry VIII embarks on his Progress to the North, a state visit with the aim of allowing those who rebelled during the recent Pilgrimage of Grace to make their formal apologies to the king. We find Shardlake trying to live a quiet life fighting legal cases with the help of his assistant Jack Barak. They smell of betrayal and dynastical forgery; they suggest that the current Tudor line is completely invalid due to Henry’s maternal grandfather (Edward IV) being a bastard born of a low born archer rather than the offspring of Richard Duke of York.