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The Clerkenwell Tales by Peter Ackroyd
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The Clerkenwell Tales

by Peter Ackroyd

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3871111,760 (3.37)18
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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. ( )
MelmoththeLost | Dec 2, 2007 |  
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. ( )
kewing | May 27, 2007 |  
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. ( )
aapjebaapje | Feb 26, 2007 |  
Ackroyd's books are impressive because he's obviously researched his subjects well. But The Clerkenwell Tales never properly engaged me although I mostly enjoyed it. I just don't know enough about life at the end of fourteenth century. ( )
mari_reads | Sep 2, 2006 |  
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Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0749386304, Paperback)

From a master historian -- a brilliantly original historical novel set in late-14th century London.

“I am sister to the day and night. I am sister to the woods.” Sister Clarisse, a nun in the House of St. Mary at Clerkenwell, experiences visions. She dreams of the English King. Are her prophesies the babblings of the crazed? Or can she “see” a future in which Henry Bolingbroke overthrows Richard II?

This clever and colourful novel begins with The Nun’s Tale, and continues with The Friar’s Tale, The Merchant’s Tale and The Clerk’s Tale. Thus, story by story, Peter Ackroyd builds his portrait of medieval London. The people are disenchanted with the Church, with its wealth and corruption, its Pope in Rome and its Pope in Avignon. But heresy is dangerous -- almost as dangerous as rebellion. This is a novel about spies and counterspies, radicals and idealists, murderers and arsonists, sects and secret societies. It is a tale richly atmospheric and satisfying in its historical detail.


From the Hardcover edition.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:53 -0400)

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