Dissolution by CJ Samson

A medieval who dun'it.  Set during the dissolution of the monasteries, after Henry VIII split the English Church from Rome.  The historical detail is fascinating and in the light of Brexit shows that nothing is forever and everything can be broken down and changed, even those institutions that had stood for 100's of years.  Part of the Shadlake series of books, this is the first one, introducing the hunchback lawyer to us, his analytical thought process the political intrigue and how even then, the fingers of power stretched far and wide.  One of Cromwell's Commissioners has been murdered at a monastery set for dissolution - it looks like witchcraft but is it really?  The cold, wet, fetid atmosphere of medieval England is well described and a lot of historical detail is carefully inserted into the story - like a lot of crime fiction, the story is interesting but some of the characters lack depth.

Words used to describe it:
exploding myth (Anne Boleyn), Shadlake doesn't ask enough questions, long winded, chilling, atmospheric

Marks out of 10:  between 5 - 7

Next Book

A Woman in Berlin by Anonymous

Next Meeting

Wed 30th November

117 Harbord St

Christmas Party

3 December 2016

208 Munster Road then onto The Southern Bell

The Chevalier by Mike Hobbs

We were lucky enough to have the author of this book, Mike Hobbs at our meeting, who answered our questions about this character and the book:   Le Chevalier (Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d'Éon de Beaumont (5 October 1728 – 21 May 1810) was a real person, a transvestite or perhaps an hermaphrodite who was co opted to spy for Louis XV.  The charming and feminine Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont has popped up in history and historical fiction before, but this book lays down a family and reason that he did what he did.  

Below a few of the questions we asked: 

Q Where did you get your inspiration from?
A While browsing the book shops of Hay on Wye I came across an old biography called Royal Spy, which outlined her fascinating story.   I became intrigued and wanted to write about her.

Q How many drafts/outlines do you do of the story?
A This was the 3 or 4th draft, I always had a good idea of what the story was going to be in my mind, so it was just a matter of writing it!

Q What happened to Le Chavalier?
A He died in Lambeth, London, having lived the last 16 years of his life as a woman, although when his body was inspected she was found to have full male genitalia as well as the rounded limbs of a woman including breasts.The real Chevalier died in abject poverty  at the age of 81.

Q How much research did you do for the historical detail?
A I try to do enough to make the details accurate, but not so much that it impedes the story.  You can get bogged down in detail if you aren't careful.

Q Which part did you agonize over most?
A The Introduction and the second journey.  The intro lays down the foundation of the story and is the most important chapter, the second journey as it links so many details together. 

Words used to describe the book:
wonderful, imaginative, pleasurably detailed, enthralling, excellent for reading about France, informative, amusing

Marks out of 10 between 6 - 9