About the Book:

From the bestselling author of The Illuminator comes a magnificent tale about the power of love and the perils of faith

Tudor England is a perilous place for booksellers Kate Gough and her brother John, who sell forbidden translations of the Bible. Caught between warring factions—English Catholics opposed to the Lutheran reformation, and Henry VIII’s growing impatience with the Pope’s refusal to sanction his marriage to Anne Boleyn—Kate embarks on a daring adventure that will lead her into a dangerous marriage and a web of intrigue that pits her against powerful enemies. From the king’s lavish banquet halls to secret dungeons and the inner sanctums of Thomas More, Brenda Rickman Vantrease’s glorious new novel illuminates the public pageantry and the private passions of men and women of conscience in treacherous times.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

Tudor England was anything but a safe place, particularly for those that were lovers of literature.  A world filled with peril that was founded on fault lines created through issues of faith, church, state, class, and countries — this story is set in a time that provides myriad options for story tellers.  And this is a story that has it all.  With not only the political ambitions of Sir Thomas Moore — combined with his rabid compulsion to destroy all those rapidly adopting the quickly spreading Protestant faith, to a King willing to tear a country apart, in an effort to get the divorce he so desperately wants — this book is filled with dangerous situations.

Vantrease has written a great historical fiction story, which explores the extremes of censorship in an age when the Bible was first being made available to the general populace.  And while the general literacy rate was almost non-existent, the Catholic Church was still concerned with the danger they perceived the Bible’s availability would become to their own spiritual power.  This division between the Catholics and the protestants would eventually divide the church at its very foundation — and would lead to warfare, and violence on a massive scale.  The controversial debate was only magnified in England, due to the pulling away of English throne, from the Catholic church when Henry VIII was excommunicated for his persistent pursuit of obtaining a divorce from his first wife.  Vantrease has created a story that is historically accurate, as well as fun and interesting to read.  The characters, and their struggles are very well envisioned, while demonstrating the dangers that promoting the newly translated Bible could bring to those who sought to expand the availability of the truth.

This book also presents an interesting look into the life of a man frequently venerated in modern days — Sir Thomas Moore.  This great Englishman, frequently portrayed as one of the great statesmen of England, Lord Chancellor to the King, and a man of great political power, there is another side to this man that is frequently forgotten, or overlooked.  Sir Thomas Moore was also an extremist when it came to his religious beliefs.  It was this division in his personal life that would eventually lead to his fall from power in the political world — when he chose religion over the state.  However this downfall would not come without many victims of those who opposed his brand of faith and commitment.  Vantrease presents an interesting insight into this lesser known side of Moore’s character.  And it is this division in this great, and powerful man that make this story into one that is a can’t stop reading, read. In a time when censorship was more than common, and book burnings were usually simply a warm up for the burning of authors, and those that possessed books branded heretical, this book explores the amazing sacrifices that had to be made in order to insure the survival of several books during this dark age.

Tags: Book Burning, Censorship, England, Government, Historical Fiction, Literature, Sir Thomas Moore, Suffering, Suspense, Tudor England

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Politics, Religious, Suspense/Thriller