Christopher John Sansom (9 December 1952 – 27 April 2024) was a British writer of historical crime novels, best known for his Matthew Shardlake series. He also wrote the spy novel Winter in Madrid and the alternate history novel Dominion. He won numerous book awards, including the 2005 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2013 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2022. Shardlake, a television series based on Sansom's novel Dissolution, started streaming on Disney+ less than a week after his death.
C. J. Sansom | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 December 1952 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Died | 27 April 2024 (aged 71) near Brighton, England, UK |
| Occupation | Author, solicitor |
| Genres | Historical fiction and crime fiction |
| Notable works | Shardlake series |
| Notable awards | Sidewise Award |
| Website | |
| pages | |
Early life
editChristopher John Sansom was born in Edinburgh on 9 December 1952,[1] the only son of Trevor Sansom. He attended George Watson's College but left the school with no qualifications. Sansom wrote about the bullying he suffered there.[2] Subsequently he was educated at the University of Birmingham, where he obtained a BA and then a PhD in history.[3] After working in a variety of jobs, he decided to retrain as a solicitor.[4] He practised in Sussex as a lawyer for the disadvantaged, before leaving the legal profession to become a full-time writer.[5] Sansom lived in Sussex.[3]
Work
editSansom came to prominence with the Shardlake series, his historical mystery series set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. The series' main character is the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by Mark Poer, then Jack Barak and also Nicholas Overton. Shardlake works on commission initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution and Dark Fire, then Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation, Queen Catherine Parr in Heartstone and Lamentation and finally Princess Elizabeth in Tombland. Dark Fire won the 2005 Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger.[6]
After Dark Fire was published, a Sunday Times review commented: "Historical crime fiction is sometimes little more than a modern adventure in fancy dress. Not so the novels of CJ Sansom, whose magnificent books set in the reign of Henry VIII bring to life the sounds and smells of Tudor England...".[7]
In the novel Tombland (published in 2018), Shardlake works as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, Lady Elizabeth, investigating a murder during the time of Kett's Rebellion in Norfolk. According to The Guardian, "Tombland is more of a grand historical epic than a tightly packed whodunnit, like some of the earlier novels; but 800 pages in Shardlake's company will always fly by".[8]
Dissolution was adapted in 10 episodes for BBC Radio 4 in September 2012, and Revelation in March 2017. The author's death occurred less than a week before the television series based on Dissolution was to start streaming on the Disney+ network.[9]
Sansom explained his reasons for making his protagonist an attorney, in an interview with The Guardian.
I thought it made sense for Shardlake to be a lawyer for a number of reasons. First, the law was my profession: I find legal practice endlessly interesting. Second, it existed then and now, so it provides a point of contact for readers. And third, it's democratic: it offers a way into any number of mysteries, and puts Shardlake in the way of an endless variety of characters.[3][10]
Sansom also said that he planned to write further Shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of Elizabeth I.[3]
Sansom also wrote Winter in Madrid, a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and Dominion, an alternative history novel set in a Britain following a fictional Axis victory in World War II. About the latter novel, a Guardian review called the premise "an invented mid-20th century Britain that has the intricate detail and delineation of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, though thankfully described in better prose".[11]
Awards
editDark Fire won the 2005 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, awarded by the Crime Writers' Association (CWA). Sansom himself was "Very Highly Commended" in the 2007 CWA Dagger in the Library award, for the Shardlake series.[12] Dominion won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2013.[13][14] In 2022, Sansom received the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the CWA.[15]
Death
editIn 2012, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (cancer in bone marrow cells). He died from the cancer at a hospice near his home in Brighton on 27 April 2024, at the age of 71.[16][1][17][10]
Bibliography
edit- Sansom, C.J. (2003). Dissolution (hardback 1st ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9780670032037.
- Sansom, C.J. (2004). Dark Fire (hardcover 1st ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9781405005449.
- Sansom, C.J. (2006). Sovereign. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-3304-3608-2.
- Sansom, C.J. (2008). Revelation. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-3304-47102.
- Sansom, C.J. (2010). Heartstone. London: Mantle. ISBN 978-1405092739.
- Sansom, C.J. (2014). Lamentation. London: Mantle. ISBN 978-1447260257.[18]
- Sansom, C.J. (2018). Tombland. London: Mantle. ISBN 978-1447284482.[19]
Other novels
edit- Sansom, C.J. (2006). Winter in Madrid. London: Macmillan. ISBN 1-4050-0546-7.
- Sansom, C.J. (2012). Dominion. London: Mantle. ISBN 978-0230744165.
References
edit- ^ a b "CJ Sansom, novelist admired for the rigour of his bestselling Shardlake Tudor detective stories – obituary". The Telegraph. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Sansom, C.J. (6 May 2018). "CJ Sansom: Ten years at George Watson's College nearly killed me. Half a century on, I fear it's still a bullies' playground". The Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d Crown, Sarah (15 November 2010). "CJ Sansom: a life in writing". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "Shardlake series author CJ Sansom dies age 71". BBC News. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Shardlake series author CJ Sansom dies age 71". BBC. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Philpott, Mary Laura (10 February 2022). "Shelf Awareness for Thursday, February 10, 2022". Shelf Awareness. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ C. J. Sansom Archived 15 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine article at Greene Heaton.
- ^ "Tombland by CJ Sansom review – royals and revolting peasants". The Guardian. 28 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "CJ Sansom, author of the Shardlake novels, dies aged 71". The Guardian. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ a b "CJ Sansom obituary: Novelist who combined murder mystery with the Tudor dynasty". The Times. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Dominion by CJ Sansom – review". the Guardian. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ the CWA Dagger in the Library 2007 Archived 15 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – C.J. Sansom shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award.
- ^ Sidewise Award Nominees Archived 9 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, SF Site News, 1 July 2013.
- ^ Glyer, Mike (31 August 2013). "2013 Sidewise Awards". File 770. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ Mechler, Anita (10 February 2022). "CJ Sansom Wins Diamond Dagger Award". Library Journal. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ Smith, Harrison (29 April 2024). "C.J. Sansom, bestselling author of historical mysteries, dies at 71". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Willix, Pierra (29 April 2024). "Author C.J. Sansom dies aged 71 days before launch of new Disney Plus TV series". Metro. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ "Lamentation - C. J. Sansom - 9781447260257". Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ "Tombland by C. J. Sansom". Pan Macmillan. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
External links
edit- C. J. Sansom at IMDb
- C. J. Sansom discography at Discogs
- C. J. Sansom at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Schoolboy rivalries in the Spanish civil war A review of Winter in Madrid, in Telegraph, 26 February 2006
- A wherry across the Thames A review of Dark Fire, by Stella Duffy, in The Guardian, 6 November 2004
- Spanish Civil War, stripped of Hemingway's romance A review of Winter in Madrid, by Katherine Bailey, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 January 2008
- Revelation A review of "Revelation", by Peter Kemp, in The Sunday Times, 27 April 2008
- Romanttinen vakoojatarina A review of Finnish-translated Winter in Madrid, by Jari Olavi Hiltunen, in Opettaja 21 May 2010
- Dominion A review of Dominion, in Upcoming4.me 12 July 2013
- Reviews & excerpts of Winter in Madrid, Revelation and Dominion at BookBrowse 2008–2014