The Clerkenwell Tales, a story about a religious/political sect in medieval London, in some respects reminds me of the paintings of Pieter Brueghel, with its bustling, colourful town scenes with loads of characters. In each of the short chapters a couple of persons are described, with sufficient overlapping so that I could follow the plot line.

The story imho wasn't exactly gripping, but still fun to read: the plot started furioso and con-tinued to be quite fast-paced, enhanced by a twist or a surprising revelation of the persons' past every now and then. I also enjoyed the explanations about art, religion and medical treatment: they were interesting and short enough not to interrupt the flow of the story, albeit a little wooden sometimes. Another flaw is due to its particular composition: None of the characters really emerged as protagonist, in this respect it is again similar to some of Brueghel's paintings. The persons were portrayed too briefly for me to understand them or even sympathise with them. But otherwise it was a very entertaining read. ( )

This is the first novel I've read by Ackroyd, though I'm familiar with his more famous work "Hawksmoor" which has been adapted as radio drama.

"The Clerkenwell Tales" is a relatively short work, some 205 pages and a few pages of explanatory notes, but it manages to pack a lot of action in nevertheless. Essentially a political thriller set against the turbulent events of the end of Richard II's reign in 1399, it weaves threads of heresy, murder and intrigue into a coherent whole.

One novel (ahem) factor is Ackroyd's shameless hijacking of many, if not most, of the characters familiar as the pilgrims of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" who here are fleshed out and given specific identities as the players in the action and on whom, chapter by chapter, the story focuses in turn.

This book was almost worth 4 but was reluctantly marked down a notch due to several moments in which Ackroyd's hand is clumsy and intrusive in commenting on the action or implications for the plot of some development or other. It remains an easy and pleasing read however and whiles away a few hours. ( )

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Peter Ackroyd (who knows London better?) brings 14th c. London alive--with the intrigue of Bolingbroke's political machination, religious conflicts, superstitions, and near anarchy in the streets. ( )

Very strange style. The characterisation was poor so it was difficult to remember who was who and the names were unfamiliar which made this even worse. I probably wouldn't read another book by this author if I had the choice. ( )