Tag Archives: Elizabethan spies

#BookReview ‘A Column of Fire’ by @KMFollett #historical #Kingsbridge

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A Column of Fire by Ken Follett is fourth in the Kingsbridge historical series (starting with prequel The Evening and The Morning) and from page one I sank immediately into this world again. Not only Kingsbridge but London, Paris, Spain, Holland and the Caribbean. Ken FollettIt is 1558 and Elizabeth Tudor is a queen in waiting. The religious differences of the earlier Kingsbridge novels have descended into violence, hatred, murder and war. In Kingsbridge, teenage protestant Ned Willard is in love with Margery Fitzgerald, a Catholic. They are prevented from marrying not because of their religious beliefs, but because the Fitzgerald family are ambitious and want a husband for Margery who will elevate them into the aristocracy. Heartbroken, Ned seeks employment with Sir William Cecil, advisor to Princess Elizabeth. Ned’s intelligence, quick wittedness and language skills see him become a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster. When princess becomes queen, her sovereignty is threatened by ‘Spanish Mary,’ Mary Queen of Scots, who is sheltering in Paris. There, Ned runs into a man who will become an enemy throughout his life, Pierre Aumande. Religious intolerance destroys trust, splits families and wrecks countries.
I really enjoyed the sub-plot of Ned’s brother Barney, who gets into trouble and runs away to sea. He becomes a master of naval artillery and when the English fleet faces the Spanish Armada he has a crucial role to play. The timespan of A Column of Fire runs from 1558-1620, that’s a lot of history. Follet does a wonderful job of seamlessly placing his fictional characters into real events, including the Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary Queen of Scots, and the Gunpowder Plot to kill Elizabeth’s heir King James I.
I’ve read comments saying the Kingsbridge books have a master plot repeated from book to book and this becomes predictable. Yes, there are similar themes, big themes about religion and politics that run across the books and the centuries. Teenage sweethearts are prevented from marrying, there are despotic local politicians, corrupt clergy, young men leave home to find a better life while feisty women survive despite the odds. These are themes of life, and of the times, and each book is individual. Discussions about the role of faith in a civil society, the danger of religious conflict fuelled by difference, and the freedom of religious belief, are pertinent today.
Thought-provoking. Thrilling. Romantic. There’s love, loyalty, betrayal, codebreaking and some cracking battles. I love these books and look forward to re-reading them many times.

Click the titles to read my reviews of other Follett novels:-
THE EVENING AND THE MORNING #prequel Kingsbridge
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH #1Kingsbridge
WORLD WITHOUT END #2Kingsbridge
NEVER

If you like this, try:-
‘Execution’ by SJ Parris #6GiordanoBruno
‘The City of Tears’ by Kate Mosse #2Joubert
‘Dissolution’ by CJ Sansom #1Shardlake

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A COLUMN OF FIRE by @KMFollett https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7WB via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Andrey Kurkov

#BookReview ‘Heresy’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Including touches such as secret messages written in orange juice, ciphers and hidden codes, Heresy is the introduction to the Giordano Bruno series of historical mysteries by SJ Parris. Set in 1583, this is the English Reformation of Queen Elizabeth I and her spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, as they steer the country from catholicism to protestantism. Meanwhile, catholics continue to worship in secret. SJ ParrisFormer Italian monk turned heretic and philosopher Bruno rides out of London on a horse borrowed from the French ambassador, to meet with a royal party bound for Oxford. Accompanied by his friend, courtier poet and secret spy, Sir Philip Sidney, Bruno has two secret missions. The first, along with Sidney, is to expose a catholic conspiracy in the university city. The second is to find a heretical text, stolen long ago but rumoured to be in England, which states that the earth revolves around the sun. This second mission is the one, I suspect, that will continue beyond this book and through the whole series.
When the murders begin, Bruno’s position as an outsider at Lincoln College is both an advantage and disadvantage. His lack of foreknowledge gives him a clear vision of factual events and the awkward questions to ask, but his ignorance of the incestuous and competitive city’s petty squabbles, hidden feuds and flirtations puts him in the path of danger. He stumbles from incident to incident, working out who to believe and who to trust. Regarded as a foreigner and therefore a suspect by everyone else, Bruno’s difficulties reflect the turmoil of the times. The murders are brutal but so are the legal punishments for crimes.
A dense plot with an infinity of tentacles of historical fact and religious conflict that, at times, I found it hard to keep up. In the style of truly satisfying detective stories, when the villain was unveiled I thought ‘of course’ and was annoyed with myself for not guessing correctly.
Much-compared to CJ Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series – which are set in the times of Elizabeth’s father King Henry VIII and his master fixer Thomas Cromwell – I found this book slower-moving and different in focus, but nevertheless enjoyable.
I do love finding a good series.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT AMAZON

Read my reviews of other books in the series:-
PROPHECY #2GiordanoBruno
SACRILEGE #3GiordanoBruno

If you like this, try:-
‘Dissolution’ by CJ Sansom
‘The Ashes of London’ by Andrew Taylor
‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview HERESY by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5dX via @SandraDanby