The Courier’s Tale and Heartstone

The Courier's Tale by Peter Walker

The fact that I love books is no secret. To me they are among my most valuable possessions because of their ability to transport you to a different time and place. The joy of losing myself in a book is indescribable. The feel of the freshly printed pages and the promise of what lies ahead inspires me to continue filling my library with book after book.

I recently received two new books set in Tudor England. The first is The Courier’s Tale by Peter Walker, a New Zealander living in London. The book blurb reads:

In 1532 two worlds are set on a collision course by Henry VIII’s desire for a male heir.

As the King’s young cousin, an admired scholar living in Italy, it falls to Reginald Pole to make the case for Henry’ divorce from Katherine of Aragon. And it falls to the hapless Michael Throckmorton – the younger son of an impecunious titled family – to become Thomas Cromwell’s messenger to Pole in Rome.

This dubious privilege makes of Michael Throckmorton’s life a tragicomedy of endless journeys back and forth between England and Italy, but it also makes him a canny observer of the greatest dramas of his time. And like his King, he too nurses a thwarted desire.

I think this book sounds fantastic. A familiar story but told through ‘fresh eyes’. I can’t wait to travel back almost 500 years and join Throckmorton on his journey.

Heartstone by C.J Sansom

The second book I received is C.J Sansom’s Heartstone. The Amazon product review reads:

Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of “monstrous wrongs” committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. Once arrived, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing to become a war zone; and Shardlake takes the opportunity to also investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. The emerging mysteries around the young ward, and the events that destroyed Ellen’s family nineteen years before, involve Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Events will converge on board one of the King-s great warships, primed for battle in Portsmouth harbour . . .

I think this novel also sounds intriguing and if it’s anything like Dissolution will definitely be worth the read.

The Independent has recently reviewed it here.