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When Christ and His Saints Slept A Novel Sharon Kay Penman 9780345396686 Books

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When Christ and His Saints Slept A Novel Sharon Kay Penman 9780345396686 Books

I've long been interested in the period of history from the fall of the Roman Empire to Elizabeth I of England. Most of my reading about this period has been non-fiction until now. I usually find most historical fiction takes too many liberties with the facts and/or deteriorates into the "bodice-ripper" genre all too common when historical fact is scarce.
Ms. Penman's work is, therefore, a pleasant surprise. She sticks to the facts where it matters. She introduces fictional characters as *observers* to the action (as in the character of Ranulf, purported to be one of Henry I's many illegitmate children), rather than active participants who could change the course of history. Where these fictionalized characters were involved in action, it was always along side one of the non-fictional participants, as a "witness." Penman is very careful not to let her fictional characters do too much. Seeing the long civil war through Ranulf's eyes made it seem very personal, and revealed what was probably the real human cost of the bloody and largely unnecessary conflict. It is a device used also by Edward Rutherfurd in _Sarum_ (his description of the of the plague and its contagious consequences from the perspective of the rat is brilliant).
I felt that I was looking at a sort of historical "connect the dots" -- there exists some documentation about this period, but there are gaps. Penman has adeptly connected the the known factual battles, seiges, etc. with fictionalized-but-plausible minor events dealing with day-to-day life. I particularly liked her inclusion of concluding notes, in which she explains which characters are fictional, which are "real," and some of the background including different (sometimes conflicting) theories on how/why certain characters acted and reacted.
All in all, an excellent effort in shining light on the darkness that fell on England in the twelfth century, a period of chaos followed the Plantagenets, starting with Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I'll be looking forward to Penman's next book in this series.


Tags : When Christ and His Saints Slept: A Novel [Sharon Kay Penman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude,Sharon Kay Penman,When Christ and His Saints Slept: A Novel,Ballantine Books,0345396685,Action & Adventure,Historical - General,Sagas,Great Britain - History - Norman period, 1066-1154,Historical fiction,Matilda,Stephen,1097?-1154,Empress, consort of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor,FICTION Action & Adventure,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Sagas,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction-Historical,GENERAL,General Adult,King of England,King of England,,Matilda,,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Stephen,,historical fiction;fiction;england;medieval;historical;12th century;eleanor of aquitaine;henry ii;maude;plantagenet;france;history;britain;henry i;wales;royalty;middle ages;medieval england;medieval history;war;british history;american;historical novel;matilda;norman;sharon kay penman;civil war;historical novels;saga;historical fiction books;historic fiction;drama;genre fiction;literary historical fiction;historical books;historical book;historical fiction novels;historical fiction novel;novels,historical fiction; fiction; england; medieval; historical; 12th century; eleanor of aquitaine; henry ii; maude; plantagenet; france; history; britain; henry i; wales; royalty; middle ages; medieval england; medieval history; war; british history; american; historical novel; matilda; norman; sharon kay penman; civil war; historical novels; saga; historical fiction books; historic fiction; drama; genre fiction; literary historical fiction; historical books; historical book; historical fiction novels; historical fiction novel; novels,Empress, consort of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor,King of England,King of England,,Matilda,,Stephen,,Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

When Christ and His Saints Slept A Novel Sharon Kay Penman 9780345396686 Books Reviews

I am not going to go over what's in the book...description is pretty spot on you are just reading 700 pages of details. I agree with reviewer before me, you either like this sort of writing or you do not. Writing itself is not "loud" it does not make your heart race when you pick up a book in excitement, it does not make you want to stay up till crack of dawn to find out what happened...what it does make you do is enjoy reading...the best way to describe this is Its a perfect book for a fall/winter time, when you don't want to get out of your soft pants and its a lazy slow weekend, this is the book that you sit surrounded by pillows with a hot cup of tea and you read until you are ready to take a nap or fall asleep...
I have a very "high energy" job, and this is the kind of book that helps me unwind at the end of the day, when i read 10-15 pages my mind slows down and i emerge into this world which is at a much slower pace... this book has fights, crime, love, etc...but it is not in "bright and shiny" colors it is in subtle, gentle way that does not rile you up, some book suck you in and you become part of that book - this is not one of those books, here you are more of an observer....i find this book perfect for my taste, before moving to book 2 i will probably read something more "adventure/crime" just to clean my pallet and give me a chance to want to get back to calm world of Sharon Key Penman.
I found this novel to be good historical fiction but I have also come to the conclusion after reading all the reviews that one either has an appetite for this style of writing or subject matter or one doesn't. I do!

Were there things I would have phrased differently? Of course, but this is not my novel and when I read another author's work, I check my need for control at the door and go along for the ride. I have respect for the tremendous effort it takes to produce a piece of work such as this and I look forward to the next two in the trilogy. But I will agree that this is not a "light" or "easy" read.

Many have stated it is too long; too many characters to keep track of and of course, the obligatory comment about "contrived bedroom scenes." People have sex and it is how we all get here and given this is a period of time when producing an heir was the main duty of a high-born woman, Ms. Penman, writing fiction, has license to speculate and I did not feel the novel was rife with excessive sexuality.

Others have complained regarding the similarity of names and the names in general of characters, such as Amabel, Ranulf, Rainard, Annora, Gilbert, Maude and Maud. Ms. Penman did go with the vernacular of Maude instead of Matilda due to King Stephen's queen being named Matilda, too, and the above were names people had at that time. Given that English royal history has a plethora of Richards, Georges, Henrys, Edwards and Elizabeths, is Penman supposed to make changes in order to ease the attention span of a modern reader? That would be folly in that she would alienate all of her fans who are interested in accuracy and appreciate the amount of research she puts into her work. If one can't accept these realities of writing about history or if one finds it too taxing to keep track of a multitude of characters, I would suggest one not pick up a Penman novel.

Another reviewer suggested perhaps the novel would be more interesting had Henry's parents not been included; that the back and forth "bickering" between Maude and Stephen was not interesting. However, that nearly twenty-year War of the Cousins is what put Henry on the throne of England and began the Plantagenet Dynasty. To exclude these characters would decrease the impact of the story. All that we are in the present is shaped by decisions and actions from those before us, even if some of the people were annoying, mean or with feet of clay. Henry did not spring fully-formed from the forehead of Zeus and suddenly appear on the throne. A great deal of angst, suffering and political maneuvering took place first.

I thoroughly enjoyed the length, breadth and detail and highly recommend this novel to anyone who shares my tastes.
I've long been interested in the period of history from the fall of the Roman Empire to Elizabeth I of England. Most of my reading about this period has been non-fiction until now. I usually find most historical fiction takes too many liberties with the facts and/or deteriorates into the "bodice-ripper" genre all too common when historical fact is scarce.
Ms. Penman's work is, therefore, a pleasant surprise. She sticks to the facts where it matters. She introduces fictional characters as *observers* to the action (as in the character of Ranulf, purported to be one of Henry I's many illegitmate children), rather than active participants who could change the course of history. Where these fictionalized characters were involved in action, it was always along side one of the non-fictional participants, as a "witness." Penman is very careful not to let her fictional characters do too much. Seeing the long civil war through Ranulf's eyes made it seem very personal, and revealed what was probably the real human cost of the bloody and largely unnecessary conflict. It is a device used also by Edward Rutherfurd in _Sarum_ (his description of the of the plague and its contagious consequences from the perspective of the rat is brilliant).
I felt that I was looking at a sort of historical "connect the dots" -- there exists some documentation about this period, but there are gaps. Penman has adeptly connected the the known factual battles, seiges, etc. with fictionalized-but-plausible minor events dealing with day-to-day life. I particularly liked her inclusion of concluding notes, in which she explains which characters are fictional, which are "real," and some of the background including different (sometimes conflicting) theories on how/why certain characters acted and reacted.
All in all, an excellent effort in shining light on the darkness that fell on England in the twelfth century, a period of chaos followed the Plantagenets, starting with Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I'll be looking forward to Penman's next book in this series.