A Burnable Book - Softcover

Bruce W. Holsinger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007493290 ISBN 13: 9780007493296

Publisher: Harper Collins Promotion, 2014

Synopsis

Paperback. Pub Date :2014-01-30 Pages: 496 Language: English Publisher: Harper Collins Promotion A stunning debut historical thriller set in the turbulent 14th Century for fans of CJ Sansom. The Name of the Rose and An Instance of the Fingerpost. London. 1385. A city of shadows and fear. in a kingdom ruled by the headstrong young King Richard II. haunted by the spectre of revolt. A place of poetry and prophecy. where power is bought by blood. For John Gower. part- time poet and full-time trader in information. secrets are his currency When close confidant. fellow poet Geoffrey Chaucer. calls in an old debt. Gower cannot refuse The request is simple:.. track down a missing book It should be easy for. a man of Gower's talents. who knows the back-alleys of Southwark as intimately as the courts and palaces of Westminster. But what Gower does not know is that this book has alread...

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In Chaucer's London, betrayal, murder, and intrigue swirl around the existence of a prophetic book that foretells the deaths of England's kings

London, 1385. Surrounded by ruthless courtiers—including his powerful uncle, John of Gaunt, and Gaunt's artful mistress, Katherine Swynford—England's young king, Richard II, is in mortal peril. Songs are heard across London—catchy verses said to originate from an ancient book that prophesies the ends of England's kings—and among the book's predictions is Richard's assassination. Only a few powerful men know that the cryptic lines derive from a "burnable book," a seditious work that threatens the stability of the realm. To find the manuscript, wily bureaucrat Geoffrey Chaucer turns to fellow poet John Gower, a professional trader in information with connections high and low.

Gower discovers that the book and incriminating evidence about its author have fallen into the unwitting hands of innocents, who will be drawn into a conspiracy that reaches from the king's court to London's slums and stews—and potentially implicates Gower's own son. As the intrigue deepens, it becomes clear that John Gower, a man with secrets of his own, may hold the key to saving the king, and England itself.

Medieval scholar Bruce Holsinger draws on his vast knowledge of the period to add colorful, authentic detail—on everything from poetry and bookbinding to court intrigues and brothels—to this highly entertaining and brilliantly constructed literary mystery that brings medieval England gloriously to life.

About the Author:

Bruce Holsinger is the author of the first John Gower novel, A Burnable Book, and an award-winning scholar of the medieval period who teaches at the University of Virginia. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and a recipient of research fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities. www.bruceholsinger.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins Promotion
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0007493290
• ISBN 13: 9780007493296
• Binding: Paperback