Clerkenwell Tales

It is 1399 and England is a hotbed of conspiracy and unrest: King Richard has snatched the throne and the Lancastrian legacy and consigned Henry to perpetual banishment. Various factions meet and plot in corners and the church is at the very heart of the matter: Sister Clarice, a nun at the House of St Mary at Clerkenwell, babbles of death and destruction, and foresees the overthrow of Richard II. Some conspirators, such as the Dominus group, seize on the confusion her prophecies arouse in the people to fan the unrest, hoping to challenge the bishops and even the pope himself and bring about the destruction of the king whose depredations are threatening their land and their wealth. As ever, money and the church are inextricably linked. No one knows more about London than novelist and historian Peter Ackroyd, and this novel is resonant with the copious research that informed his 'biography' of London. Here he chooses Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as the framework for his tale, with each chapter given over to a 'pilgrim' though few of them share even a notional common purpose. Ackroyd has a confident but subtle touch when it comes to using his vast wealth of knowledge, and his occasionally ironic touch pays tribute to the source of his inspiration:('April was the month, too, when folk longed to go on pilgrimages'). We learn of the Lollards, the debate that raged over transubstantiation and predestination; we see the physician inspect the eyes of a corpse hoping to find the image of its murderer; we enter taverns under Ackroyd's guidance, and walk the streets of his beloved London with him. He has managed to combine a mediaeval murder mystery with a compelling portrait of a London in turmoil brought vividly to life. (Kirkus UK)