I have been reading a lot lately, seem to be rattling through books but if it hadn’t been for my son buying me 3 of the Matthew Shardlake novels by C J Sansom I doubt I’d have picked them. Why? Well, they’re long and I find anything over 400 pages a trifle too long for me. I want to be on the next thing. These books are longer than that by a couple of hundred pages. I love them. They are set in Tudor England and cover Henry’s goings on and that of his wives, and then there are the dastardly happenings that Matthew as a lawyer of the time at Lincoln’s Inn has to contend with, plus the personal lives of those he works with and his household. There’s a lot going on. But these books are wonderful to read. I read the first one or two sentences and at once I am there in England of the time, so atmospheric is the writing. And I am reading 2 more titles, Revelation and Heartstone that I have borrowed from my local library and enjoying them. They draw me on and to be honest I don’t want to put them down.Heartstone So, a lesson learned, don’t shy away from authors you have never read before. I am so pleased I was introduced to this writer and if Mr C J Sansom ever does events in my neck of the woods, I can guarantee to be on the front row.
