Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2011
640 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
Summer, 1545. England is at war, and Matthew Shardlake is about to encounter the most politically dangerous case of his career. While a massive French fleet prepares to attack, every able-bodied man is being pressed into military service. Meanwhile, an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr asks Shardlake to investigate claims of "monstrous wrongs" committed against a young ward of the court. Shardlake's inquiries take him and his loyal assistant, Jack Barak, to Hoyland Priory and Portsmouth, where the English fleet is gathering. There they uncover a startling link between the ward and a woman incarcerated in Bedlam.
With a fantastic backdrop of wartime intrigue and a dramatic finale on board one of Henry VIII's great warships, Heartstone is certain to catapult this internationally bestselling series to greater prominence.
"Starred Review. Strong prose makes Tudor England instantly accessible, and the clockwork plotting sustains deep interest throughout." - Publishers Weekly
"Enjoyable for mystery, thriller, and historical fiction readers, this is also recommended to fans of all things Tudor." - Library Journal
"Engrossing." - The Spectator (UK)
"Atmospheric and erudite ... Not since Umberto Eco penned The Name of the Rose has a historical crime novelist captured so perfectly a people and their place, and harnessed them with such intelligence and credibility to shadowy tales of politics, misdeeds, murder and mystery." - Lancashire Evening Post (UK)
"An enthralling historical crime novel packed with details of life in Tudor England. Highly recommended." - Irish Independent
"Compulsively readable and highly satisfying. ... An entirely engrossing novel with an intriguing twist." - Daily Express (UK)
This information about Heartstone was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
C. J. Sansom was educated at the University of Birmingham, where he took a BA
and then a PhD in history. After working in a variety of jobs, he decided to
retrain as a solicitor (lawyer). He practiced for a while in Sussex as a lawyer
for the disadvantaged, then he quit in order to work full-time as a writer. C.J. Sansom is the #1 bestselling author of the Matthew Shardlake series of historical thrillers.
Dark Fire won the 2005 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger and
Sansom was "Very Highly Commended" in the 2007 CWA Dagger in the Library award,
for the Shardlake series.
The BBC have commissioned an adaptation of Dissolution with the actor
Kenneth Branagh set to star as Shardlake. The rest of the Shardlake books are
expected to follow.
Bibliography:
...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to C. J. Sansom's Website
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