Dissolution

A Novel of Tudor England Introducing Matthew Shardlake

By: C. J. Sansom

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

This riveting debut set in 1534 England secured C. J. Sansom’s place “among the most distinguished of modern historical novelists” (P. D. James). When Henry VIII’s emissary is beheaded at an English monastery, hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake is dispatched to solve the crime. But as he uncovers a cesspool of sin, three more murders occur - and Matthew may be the next target.

©2003 C. J. Sansom (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

A Most Fabulous Story; a solid enriching meal...

A solid enriching meal of character, presence, meaning and history. It entertains the senses .....with the rich and expressive reader, singlly portraying every character of the book... It feeds the mind.....descriptive historical references........It builds the place....one can literally place themselves within the context of the time.... It educates.....HOW amazing a time ...... It encourages one to ponder the MEANING of these happenings.....such depth, such meaning....a fantastic listen for one searching for history, for information, for an angle, to assist to digest what truely had occurred so many hundreds of years ago which today touch us every, single, day....

Wow

Wonderful! I’m going to
Check out the whole series. I love historical fiction based on true events. It kept me guessing and I learned some things.

Love this series!

The detail and description of Tudor England is so vivid I can easily picture it in my minds eye! Love it! I have listened to the whole series multiple times. Cannot give it enough stars!

Good Look at Olde England

I loved the story and the history that was shared in this book. I’ve not found too many that delve into the Reformation and how it affected so many people. I’m sorry to learn that so many places were destroyed and ravaged as described in this book. Although, I do wonder if it may have been a good thing in some ways if those inhabiting the monasteries were as described. It was a bit cumbersome for me to read at first, but when I was able to devote the time to reading/listening to the book, I found it quite interesting. This, for me, was not a book that I could read while doing other things. And that, in fact, makes me glad, as I do want to be immersed in a book that can take me away to another time and place. The narrator did an outstanding job. Various characters were easily identified their voices were maintained throughout. POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!! I must say I was just a bit unhappy with the Epilogue as some of the folks thought dead had managed to survive. That sounds harsh, and I understand that some would feel they should have succeeded in their escape, but I think that they betrayed close friends and did commit crimes. Again, it was a bit of a challenge for me to get through this at first. It seemed to move slowly. But once I did get into the story and committed to reading and not sharing other activities while reading, I was pleased. Enough to start the second of this series!! Thanks to the author for sharing her knowledge and for doing such wonderful research of a time that was important in our history.

Terrific Story, Writing, and Narration ...

... and I am using the word "terrific" in all of its meanings: "big," "excellent," and "terror-inducing." I would not recommend this book to everybody. However, if you have an intellectual bent, an interest in history, and a fondness for the mystery genre, then you will love "Dissolution." I noticed that some earlier reviewers did not like this audiobook, because it moved too slowly for them. "Dissolution" does, indeed, unfold slowly; so if you are looking for a thriller, you can bypass this one. However, if you have the patience to appreciate a beautifully-crafted, intricate, intriguing mystery, then get ready to clean house, do all your ironing, mending, and laundry, and wash the car -- just so you can keep listening to "Dissolution." In fact, some aspects of this novel -- the history part, the dirt part, the cruelty part, and the dark part -- run completely contrary to my own normal tastes in audiobooks. I generally like thrillers packed with action and humor. Yet still, I could not stop listening to "Dissolution": That shows you how well it is written (all the subsequent novels in the Matthew Shardlake series, as well, by the way). Listening to C. J. Sansom's novels feels like watching a gripping movie that engages all the senses -- including smell, touch, and taste. You will learn more about Tudor England than you probably ever wanted to know, and not regret having done so. The title, "Dissolution," has a dual meaning here, referring both to King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Catholic church in England, and the protagonist's gradual disillusionment with his formerly enthusiastic reformist convictions.

I respond emotionally to all of the Matthew Shardlake novels: I keep wondering, "How could people have behaved so cruelly? How could people have borne all that filth? Are humans today still that awful? Am I a totally innocent naïf? Why do we keep getting ourselves into these terrible situations?" Yes, C. J. Sansom's novels make you think. I don't know if he meant to conjure this parallel, but throughout my listening to the Matthew Shardlake series, the similarity between Henry VIII's reign over England and Joseph Stalin's rule over Soviet Russia keeps occurring to me, particularly in the careless destruction of art. In "Dissolution," Henry VIII has commanded destruction all religious artifacts, regardless of their artistic merit. All religious gold was melted down for Henry's coffers, and all religious architecture was destroyed. We are given the picture of a totally, spoiled, self-absorbed, self-indulgent monarch imposing his will on his helpless subjects.

Steven Crossley, the narrator of "Dissolution" and all the subsequent Matthew Shardlake series, does an excellent job. He has a beautiful voice, very good command of accents, and he usually clearly distinguishes the characters from each other. "Dissolution" marks the beginning of the Matthew Shardlake series, so start here. You will want to listen to the subsequent entries in this series.

Will definitely listen to more of Shardlake

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. The author is very skilled at weaving the history and culture of the period into the story without inserting long lectures that stop the movement of the story. I liked the main character, Matthew Shardlake, even with his flaws and religious zeal. I hope Brother Guy turns up in a later book, though I agree he sounded Russian rather than Moorish. (I have found the same thing with other narrators trying to do a Middle Eastern accent.)

I considered giving the book a 5 but it could have done with one less murder. And Shardlake did seem to flounder, accusing almost everyone of murder at some point in the story. There weren't many options left by the end.

I like this character!

I had this on my wish list for a long time and am glad I finally downloaded this. I like that Matthew is not perfect, and not just because he has a disability but he also has character flaws. This book was very interesting had a few good twists and turns and the Tudor setting adds a whole other element of danger.
As a Christian, the protestant / catholic struggle has always been interesting to me. (Why cant we all just get along) And this book does give some insight into that struggle and the politics involved on flaming the fire.
I thought the character development was great, event he minor characters held my interest.
I will definitely continue with this series.

Excellant Historical Fiction

I found this story to be well written, gripping and interesting in it's fictionalized glimpse into Tudor England and the Reformation. The narration is excellent. The descriptions vivid. Highly recommend.

I do not really "rank" books. BUT.....

Where does Dissolution rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Engrossing main character. Obviously well researched. Excellent plot structure. Most of all a really enoyable listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Matthew He seems so real, like all of us flawed but a survivor.

Which character – as performed by Steven Crossley – was your favorite?

Matthew

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I smiled, , a good story well read. What more could a book lover ask for?

Any additional comments?

I hope to listen to the entire series!

Reviewer Community To The Rescue

I've been a happy Audible listener for years. From time to time Audible has sent me gentle suggestions that I might actually review some of the books I've listened to. I ignored those nudges until recently when my conscience caught up with me. This is my 4th review.

A few days ago I downloaded and started to listen to Dissolution. For starters, this narrator is truly wonderful. He gives life and distinction to all his characters -- portraying differences of age, gender and land of origin flawlessly. But in the beginning I found the story to be ponderous and without any pacing or excitement. It takes a lot for me to abandon a book, so before doing that, I went back to (what I can now call) my fellow reviewers. Here I learned that many found the book to be slow and difficult in the beginning. They encouraged future readers to give it a chance and were quite clear that the following books in this series were well worth listening to. I followed their advice and am very happy I did.

Review Summary: Narrator is truly excellent. Story starts out slow but does move a little bit faster in the 2nd half of the book. The good guy characters are interesting and compelling in their own way. The bad guys are bad enough that you want to stay tuned for their come-uppance...assuming that that's how it all turns out.

Bottomline: I'll download the next book in this series on the promise from other reviewers that it's all up from here. And mega thanks to all who took the time to review this book so I didn't miss it.