Shardlake series

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Shardlake series

Author C. J. Sansom
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Historical mystery
Adventure
Publisher Macmillan Publishers
Published2003–present
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), audiobook, e-book

The Shardlake series is a series of historical mystery novels by C. J. Sansom, set in 16th century Tudor England. The series features barrister Matthew Shardlake, who, while navigating the religious reforms of Henry VIII, solves crime and tries to avoid getting caught up in political intrigue.

Contents

The six first books are set during the reign of Henry VIII, while the seventh, Tombland, takes place two years after the king's demise. Sansom has said that he plans to write further Shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of Elizabeth I. [1]

Description

The series' protagonist is the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by Mark Poer and then Jack Barak.

Shardlake works on commission, initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution [2] and Dark Fire , [3] then archbishop Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation , [4] queen Catherine Parr in Heartstone and Lamentation , and lately princess Elizabeth in Tombland . The seventh book, Tombland, was published in October 2018. [5] [6]

The books cover several historical events, such as the Dissolution of the monasteries (1536–1541), the Royal Progress to York (1541), the Battle of the Solent and the sinking of the Mary Rose (1545), the burning at the stake of Anne Askew (1546), the publication of The Lamentation of a Sinner (1547), Kett's Rebellion (1549), and the several marriages of king Henry VIII.

Principal characters

Fictional

Characters who existed in real life

Novels

Matthew Shardlake series
TitleYear setYear publishedPublisherISBNAwards
Dissolution 15372003London:Macmillan1-4050-0542-4Nominated for the 2003 Crime Writers' Association (CWA) John Creasey Memorial Dagger, for first books by previously unpublished writers. It was also nominated for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger in the same year. [7]
Dark Fire 15402004London:Macmillan1-4050-0544-0Awarded the Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award in 2005. [8]
Sovereign 15412006London:Macmillan0-3304-3608-2 
Revelation 15432008London:Macmillan0-3304-4710-6Shortlisted for the Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year 2009 [9] and the Crime Writers Association Ellis Peters Historical Dagger in 2008. [10]
Heartstone 15452010London:Mantle1-4050-9273-4Shortlisted for the 2011 Walter Scott Prize [11]

Lamentation

15462014London:Mantle978-1-4472-6025-7 

Tombland

15492018London:Mantle978-1-4472-8449-9Shortlisted at The British Book Awards 2019 for Fiction Book of the Year and Marketing Strategy of the Year [12]

Adaptations

Radio

BBC Radio 4 has adapted novels in the Shardlake series as part of its 15-Minute Drama series. In 2012, Dissolution was adapted into a 10-part radio serial by Colin MacDonald, starring Jason Watkins as Shardlake and Mark Bonnar as Cromwell. [13] [14] BBC Radio 4 later broadcast Dark Fire in 2014, with Justin Salinger taking over the role of Shardlake and Bryan Dick playing Barak, Sovereign in 2015, Revelation in 2017, Heartstone in 2018, and Lamentation in 2021, [15] all adapted by Colin MacDonald as 10-part serials. [16]

Television

In 2007, the BBC commissioned an adaptation of Dissolution, with Kenneth Branagh set to star as Shardlake. [17] Branagh chose instead to star as the eponymous protagonist in the BBC series Wallander . [18]

In 2023, Disney+ greenlit an adaptation of the Shardlake novels. The series will consist of four episodes, and will be directed by Justin Chadwick. [19] Arthur Hughes will play Shardlake. [20]

Stage

In 2023, Mike Kenny adapted Sovereign as a community theatre production for the York Theatre Royal. Fergus Rattigan played Shardlake. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Parr</span> Queen of England and Ireland from 1543 to 1547

Catherine Parr was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until Henry's death on 28 January 1547. Catherine was the final queen consort of the House of Tudor, and outlived Henry by a year and eight months. With four husbands, she is the most-married English queen. She was the first woman to publish an original work under her own name, in English, in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley</span> English nobleman (1508–1549)

Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG, PC was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. With his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, he vied for control of their nephew, the young King Edward VI. In 1547, Seymour married Catherine Parr, the widow of Henry VIII. During his marriage to Catherine, Seymour involved the future Queen Elizabeth I, who resided in his household, in flirtatious and possibly sexual behaviour.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII is a series of six television plays produced by the BBC and first transmitted between 1 January and 5 February 1970. The series later aired in the United States on CBS from 1 August to 5 September 1971 with narration added by Anthony Quayle. The series was rebroadcast in the United States without commercials on PBS as part of its Masterpiece Theatre series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich</span> Lord Chancellor of England

Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He was a beneficiary of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and persecuted perceived opponents of the king and their policies. He played a role in the trials of Catholic martyrs Thomas More and John Fisher as well as that of Protestant martyr Anne Askew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton</span> English politician (1505–1550)

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG was an English peer, secretary of state, Lord Chancellor and Lord High Admiral. A naturally skilled but unscrupulous and devious politician who changed with the times, Wriothesley served as a loyal instrument of King Henry VIII in the latter's break with the Catholic church. Richly rewarded with royal gains from the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he nevertheless prosecuted Calvinists and other Protestants when political winds changed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Aske (political leader)</span> English rebel

Robert Aske was an English lawyer who became a leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace uprising against the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 in 1536. He was executed for treason against King Henry VIII on 12 July 1537.

Christopher John Sansom is a British writer of historical crime novels, best known for his Matthew Shardlake series. He was born in Edinburgh and attended George Watson's College in that city, but left the school with no qualifications. Sansom has written about the bullying he suffered there. Subsequently he 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. He practised in Sussex as a lawyer for the disadvantaged, before leaving the legal profession to become a full-time writer. He lives in Sussex.

William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton was the son of Sir William Parr and his second wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Fitzhugh, later Lady Vaux of Harrowden.

Colin MacDonald was born in 1956 in Inverness, Scotland. He is a prolific writer for television and radio. Television credits include The Dunroamin' Rising (BBC1), The Gift (BBC1), The Wreck on the Highway (BBC1), Sharpe's Honour (ITV) and episodes in the series Blue Murder (ITV), Heartbeat (ITV), Casualty (BBC1), and Para Handy (BBC1). Radio credits include Killing the Butterfly, Hill of Rains, The Colour of Summer, King of Hearts, The Stanley Baxter Playhouse: The Hat and Calum's Road. In 2021, BBC Radio 4 aired a full-cast adaptation of C. J. Sansom's mystery novel Lamentation, dramatised by MacDonald, with Justin Salinger starring as Shardlake.

<i>Dissolution</i> (Sansom novel) 2003 novel by C. J. Sansom

Dissolution (2003) is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's first published novel, and the first in the Matthew Shardlake Series. It was dramatised by BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

<i>Dark Fire</i> (Sansom novel) 2004 novel by C. J. Sansom

Dark Fire is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's second novel, released in 2004, and also the second in the Matthew Shardlake Series. Set in the 16th century during the reign of Tudor King Henry VIII, it follows hunchbacked lawyer Shardlake's search to recover the long-lost formula for Greek fire.

Events from the 1540s in England.

<i>Sovereign</i> (Sansom novel) 2006 novel by C J Sansom

Sovereign, published in 2006, is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's fourth novel and the third in the Matthew Shardlake Series. Set in the 16th century during the reign of King Henry VIII, it follows hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak as they investigate a series of murders and a plot to question the legitimacy of the line of succession to the English throne.

<i>Revelation</i> (Sansom novel) 2008 novel by C. J. Sansom

Revelation is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's fifth novel, and the fourth in the Matthew Shardlake Series. Set in 1543 during the reign of King Henry VIII, it follows hunchbacked lawyer Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak as they hunt the killer of a fellow lawyer - who turns out to be a religiously fanatic serial killer, insane but highly intelligent and capable.

<i>Heartstone</i> (novel) 2010 novel by C. J. Sansom

Heartstone is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's sixth novel, and the fifth in the Matthew Shardlake Series. Set in the 16th century during the reign of King Henry VIII, the events of the novel take place in the summer of 1545. Shardlake and his assistant Barak travel to Portsmouth on a legal case given to them by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. The book also concerns preparations for the Battle of the Solent and the King's warship, the Mary Rose.

A lamentation, or lament, is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.

<i>Lamentation</i> (novel) 2014 novel by C. J. Sansom

Lamentation is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is his eighth novel and the sixth entry in the Matthew Shardlake Series, following 2010's Heartstone. Set in the summer of 1546, King Henry VIII is dying while the Catholic and Protestant factions of his court are battling for power over his successor, Prince Edward. Matthew Shardlake is deep in work and still feeling the shock of the events of the previous year when Queen Catherine Parr, caught in the throes of the power struggle, again seeks his aid when a potentially controversial manuscript, Lamentation of a Sinner, is stolen from her chambers.

<i>Tombland</i> 2018 novel by C. J. Sansom

Tombland is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is the seventh book in the Matthew Shardlake series, following 2014's Lamentation. Set in the summer of 1549, the story deals with the investigation of a murder in Norfolk. Matthew Shardlake is entrusted by Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth I, to investigate the murder of the wife of a distant relative of hers. During the course of the investigation Shardlake gets involved in Kett's Rebellion.

Thomas Cromwell was Chief Minister to King Henry VIII of England from 1534 to 1540. He played a prominent role in the important events of Henry's reign, including the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the execution of Anne Boleyn, the marriage to Anne of Cleves, the Dissolution of the monasteries, and the English Reformation. These dramatic events have provided the inspiration for plays, novels and films from shortly after his death until modern times.

Shardlake is an upcoming streaming television series made for Disney+, based on the Shardlake series of historical mystery novels by C. J. Sansom, set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. The series is adapted by Stephen Butchard and directed by Justin Chadwick and produced by The Forge. Arthur Hughes stars as the eponymous Matthew Shardlake, alongside Sean Bean as Thomas Cromwell.

References

  1. "Shardlake". cjsansome.com.
  2. "A review of Dominion". Upcoming4.me. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013.
  3. Duffy, Stella (6 November 2004). "A wherry across the Thames: A review of Dark Fire". The Guardian. UK.
  4. Kemp, Peter (27 April 2008). "A review of 'Revelation'". The Sunday Times. UK. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014.
  5. Sansom, C.J. (October 2018). Tombland. London: Mantle. ISBN   978-1-4472-8449-9.
  6. Sansom, C.J. (October 2018). "New C.J. Samson: Tombland (2018)". PanMacMillan.
  7. "2003 CWA Dagger Awards". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  8. "CJ Sansom wins with Dark Fire". 2005 CWA Dagger Awards. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  9. Flood, Alison (10 March 2009). "Obama battles vampires for Galaxy prize". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  10. "CWA Shortlist". shotsmag.co.uk. 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  11. "Walter Scott historical fiction shortlist announced". BBC News. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  12. The British Book Awards: 2019 Books of the Year Shortlists
  13. "Radio 4: Episode Guide: Dissolution". BBC.
  14. "Episode Guide: Dissolution". Radio Times.
  15. "Radio 4: Lamentation". BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  16. "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Shardlake - Episode guide".
  17. Dowell, Ben; Thorpe, Vanessa (18 November 2007). "Branagh to play Tudor sleuth". The Guardian .
  18. "News Archive: January 2008 - June 2008". The Kenneth Branagh Compendium. Retrieved 8 January 2018. So, the new news is that Matthew Shardlake, and the announced BBC filming of Dissolution, will be left lurking back in the 16th century for the moment, while a more contemporary Swedish detective is brought to BBC screens. Kenneth Branagh will become Kurt Wallander for a BBC series tentatively titled Wallander.
  19. Kanter, Jake (8 January 2023). "Disney+ Lines Up Series Adaptation Of CJ Sansom's Shardlake Tudor Detective Novels". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  20. Ramachandran, Naman (31 March 2023). "Disney+ Sets Series Adaptation of C.J. Sansom's 'Shardlake' Murder Mystery Novels". Variety . Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  21. Love, Catherine (20 July 2023). "Sovereign review – CJ Sansom's historical doorstopper comes home to York". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 September 2023.