''Lamentation'' is a

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

novel by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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. In 2021,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

aired a full-cast adaptation of the novel, dramatised by Colin MacDonald, with Justin Salinger starring as Shardlake.

Reception

Critical reception for Lamentation has been positive. Alfred Hickling writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' compared the book's theme to that of Sansom's previous novel ''

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'' and noted that "Sansom's recent foray into alternate history was not quite as much of a diversion as it first appeared. ...both novels address the critical moment when a tyrant weakens and a ruthless power struggle develops to fill the vacuum." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'''s Jane Jakeman wrote that "Sansom brilliantly conveys the uncertainty of the time when a frail young prince would ascend the throne with different factions fighting for regency" and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'''s Alan Judd gave a particularly glowing review writing that "The orchestration of plot over 600 pages, and the final twist, is literary craft of a high order" and concluding his review by writing "With the Shardlake series, and with this volume in particular, Sansom has surely established himself as one of the best novelists around."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamentation (C. J. Sansom Novel) 2014 British novels British crime novels Novels by C. J. Sansom Novels set in the 1540s British historical novels Macmillan Publishers books