Tombland by C J Sansom – the peasants are revolting #ThrowbackThursday
The recent death of C J Sansom brought to an end one of the most vivid historical crime series I’ve ever encountered. His Shardlake novels featuring a hunchbacked lawyer in the reign of King Henry VIII saw a seamless weaving of murder mystery and historical fact. Entertaining? Yes definitely. Informative? Absolutely — even though I know this period of history very well, Sansom still managed to surprise me with insights into lesser known aspects of the Tudor era.
The first six books of the series are set during the reign of Henry VIII, while the seventh, Tombland, takes place two years after the king’s death. Sansom had said he planned to write further Shardlake novels that would move forward into into the reign of Elizabeth I. He did apparently begin writing an eighth book — to be called Ratcliffe, but the cancer against which he had battled for 12 years, made him too ill to continue. He died In April just a few days before a TV adaptation of his series aired on Disney+.
As a tribute to Sansom whose novels have kept me enthralled on many a long commute, I thought I’d re-publish my review of Tombland — the seventh and final novel in his series.
The Historical Context
Tombland delves into one of the lesser-known events of the mid sixteenth century: a rebellion by thousands of peasants in East Anglia. (A summary of the causes of Kett’s Rebellion and the key events can be found on Wikipedia if you’re interested).
The year is 1549. Since the death of King Henry VIII two years earlier, the country has begun to slide into division and discord. The war against Scotland is going badly. There’s widespread unease about the abolition of the Mass and the imposition of compulsory services in English. Rampant inflation is hitting all but the very wealthy. In the countryside, landowners fence off more and more common land for their own use, leaving peasants with nowhere to graze their animals.
The mood is turning ugly.
Hunchbacked lawyer and sometime detective Matthew Shardlake becomes unwittingly embroiled in the ensuing rebellion when he is pressed into service by the late king’s daughter, Lady Elizabeth (later to become Queen Elizabeth). A distant Norfolk relative is to stand trial, accused of the gruesome murder of his wife. The case could have political implications for Elizabeth, so she calls upon Shardlake and his assistant Nicholas Overton to uncover the truth.
In the midst of their investigation, disgruntled peasants begin to rebel, demanding an end to enclosures and more fair treatment of poor people. Yeoman Robert Kett and his brother gather a force of more than a thousand at a camp outside Norwich and soon take control of the city. Shardlake and Overton are taken as prisoners at the camp with Shardlake “persuaded” to assist at trials of captured landowners and gentlemen under the Oak of Reformation.
History Trumps Crime
Some readers might be be disappointed that the murder mystery element isn’t more prominent in Tombland. A large chunk of the narrative is instead devoted to what became known as Kett’s Rebellion, one of the most successful uprisings of the sixteenth century.
In the hands of another author, this would have been just a tiresome info dump but Sansom deftly avoids this pitfall. The details of how a ragtag bunch of ill-equipped agricultural labourers were sheltered, fed and trained to face the canons and swords of mercenaries were fascinating. Sansom portrays life in the rebels’ camp so vividly that you feel you’re there on Mousehold Heath, hearing the grievances of the poor folk and their hopes that their King will see the justice of their actions.
There’s a tremendous sense of tension and drama too as hopes are dashed that the young King will respond positively to their demands and the peasants are left with little choice but to seize control of Norwich.
Lawyer With Social Conscience
As always with the books in this series, what makes them so readable and enjoyable is the character of Shardlake. He’s a methodical man with a sharp mind and equally sharp eye. He’s grown in substance with each book, undertaking commissions (sometimes reluctantly) to solve important mysteries of the time while having to keep his head (literally) amid the treacherous political climate of Tudor England.
Though he has a modest background as the son of a sheep farmer, he’s respected enough as a lawyer and a fixer to mix with the greatest in the land. Unfortunately his high standards of integrity and unwillingness to compromise often put him at odds with his illustrious clients. But he’s equally comfortable in the company of the lowliest, often siding with them out of a strong belief in social justice.
In Tombland he has to decide where his loyalties lie: with the peasants and their desire for fairness and equality or with the forces of law and order even though he’s appalled by the behaviour of the gentry and powerful landowners he encounters in Norfolk.
Tombland is a long novel at 800 pages (there’s a bonus 50 page essay on the background and causes of the uprising) yet it never sags or runs out of steam. I’ve enjoyed many of the other titles in this series but they were more of a whodunnit with a strong historical context. This one is all the stronger by making the mystery secondary to the history.
This is an updated version of a review first published at Bookertalk.com in 2021. I’ve changed the formatting to improve readability and replaced the image. I’m republishing it in support of #throwbackthursday hosted by Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog.
Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Epic Reads : BookerTalk
[…] Tombland by C J Sansom (865 pages) […]
theorangutanlibrarian
Glad this manages to avoid the pitfall of being infodumpy and I’m impressed that it’s stronger for making the mystery second to the history. I’ve never tried this author before, it sounds like a very good book. Great review!
BookerTalk
The central character grows in depth as the series progresses and you get a strong sense of the knife-edge that people had to navigate if they came anywhere close to the court
Davida Chazan
Excellent! And thanks for joining in!
margaret21
I love the Shardlake series. CJ Samson wore his deep historical knowledge so lightly and wove it into the story so well that I was always transported back to the time and place of the books. Time for a re-read I think. Thanks for reminding me!
BookerTalk
I tried one of his non-Shardlake novels and didn’t get on with it as much but no worries, there is plenty of scope for re-reading Shardlake
Spell the Month in Books: August 2023 : BookerTalk
[…] Tombland is book number five in the series featuring Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer in sixteenth century England. Though there are mysteries in each of the titles, it’s the historical context that gives this series the edge. Here we have a rebellion in East Anglia as peasants rise up in protest against inflation, enclosure of their grazing lands and abolition of the Mass. . […]
FictionFan
So glad you enjoyed this one! I hadn’t heard of the Kett Rebellion, so found learning about that particularly interesting, especially since, as you say, Sansom manages to show it in a way that feels like a story rather than an info dump. I swear I’ve learned more about the Tudor era via Sansom and Shardlake than in several years of school and university! I hope he’s working hard on the next one… I wonder how long it will be… 😉
Eustacia | Eustea Reads
I’ve not read a Shardlake novel is a long time, but now I feel like I have to read Tombland (especially because I know nothing about Kett’s rebellion). Thanks for the great review!
Helen
I’ve had this on my TBR since it was published and still haven’t read it yet, though I don’t know why as I’ve loved all of the other Shardlake novels. I’m glad you enjoyed it – the historical background does sound fascinating.
BookerTalk
I still have a few of the Shardlake novels to read but this has been my favourite. The 800 pages were a bit off putting until I got stuck in and then found it flowed quickly
wadholloway
It’s a shame the author is determined on producing a detective series. I would happily read this just for the story of the rebellion, and I know where my loyalties would lie.
BookerTalk
He’s written two other novels which are not part of this series. One was an alternative view of World war 2 but I didn’t think it worked all that well. I did admire the depth of his historical knowledge though and the extent of his research which is shown in a very comprhensive bibliography
Calmgrove
This sounds not only eminently enjoyable but also a title with themes relevant to any age but especially to ours, such as speaking truth to those in power.
BookerTalk
Absolutely relevant if you think about people speaking up and demanding justice
Lisa Hill
I was really liking the sound of this but 800 pages sounds a bit overlong to me.
BookerTalk
All of the books in this series are lengthy – they have got longer as the series progressed.
Lisa Hill
*sigh*
Rosie Amber
It is a big book, I remember it hurt my arms and hands holding it. But still I agree the story is a good one.
BookerTalk
I have that problem too – it meant reading the. latest Hilary Mantel in hardback was very uncomfortable