The book, which takes place in
the year 1549, features the London lawyer Matthew Shardlake
who works for Lady Elizabeth - the daughter of Henry VIII.
When Edith Boleyn (the wife of John Boleyn) is visciously
murdered - Shardlake heads for Norfolk with his assitant
Nicholas Overton. In Norwich he is reuinted with his former
assistant Jack Barak.
Shardlake's arrival in Norfolk
coincides with the peasant's rebellion of the same year led
by Robert Kett. Kett leads a force of thousands against the
Norfolk landlords and establishes his camp near St Michael's
chapel on Mousehold Heath
overlooking the city.
Barak throws in his lot with
the rebels but Overton, who is opposed to them, becomes a
prisoner in Norwich Castle. Shardlake has to decide where
his loyalties lie and he soon discovers that the murder of
Edith Boleyn may have connections reaching into the heart of
the rebel camp and also into the Norfolk gentry.
Shardlake travels up to Norwich via
Wymondham and
Kenninghall and stays in
the Maid's Head Hotel
in Tombland. The hotel, which is still there today, has put
up a plaque on the wall to commemorate its link with the
book.
Other locations featured in the book include:
Norwich Castle, St Peter Mancroft Church, the Shirehall,
Norwich Market, the Guildhall, Stranger's Hall, St Andrew's
Hall, Elm Hill, Augustine Steward House (Tombland), St
Martin's Plain, the Adam and Eve Pub, the Great Hospital,
the Hermitage, Bishop Bridge, Lollards Pit, Cow Tower,
Kett's Heights, St Michael's Chapel,
Mount Surrey and Mousehold
Heath.
While preparing the book Sansom actually lived
in Norwich - so he was able to meticulously research all the
locations. Today, there are walking tours available led by
Paul Dickson - retracing all the major locations in the
book. Incidentally, Tombland doesn't actually mean a 'land
of tombs' but rather derives from the Old English for 'empty
space'.
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