Having already tackled mystery and intrigue in imperial Rome and Nazi Germany, Robert Harris turns his attention to medieval England and the compelling story of a dead priest, ancient artefacts and suppressed religion. Another supreme achievement from a literary master craftsman, The Second Sleep fizzes with suspense, character and truly spectacular plot twists.
All civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is.
1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with ancient artefacts - coins, fragments of glass, human bones - which the old parson used to collect. Did his obsession with the past lead to his death?
Fairfax becomes determined to discover the truth. Over the course of the next six days, everything he believes - about himself, his faith and the history of his world - will be tested to destruction.
Publisher: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9781787460966
Number of pages: 432
Weight: 298 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 26 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'This is a novel that not only makes you smile at the author's brilliance, but induces a shiver of dread at how real it all seems' - The Financial Times
'His portrait of a future Britain that has more in common with the distant past than the present is rendered with immense skill and a subtle ironic humour.' - The Sunday Express
'Genuinely thrilling, wonderfully conceived and entirely without preaching, it probes the nature of history.' - The Daily Telegraph
'A thoroughly absorbing, page-turning narrative in which the author pulls us ever deeper into the imaginative world he has created…it poses challenging questions about the meaning of the past, the idea of progress and the stability of civilisation. A fine addition to Harris's diverse body of work.' - The Sunday Times
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“Historical thriller with a twist....”
This novel starts like a typical historical novel set in the 16th or 17th century. The established church is the greatest power in the land, the country is largely agrarian and social mobility is limited.
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“An Adventure into the Middle ages”
One of the bullet points written about this latest novel by Robert Harris indicates that it is unlike anything he has done before. That statement is very much true. Mr Harris always gives us a well written book, a... More
“Ingenious and Creative!”
Absolutely agree that this is something Harris has never done before. Hell I would even say this is one of the best works by the man who brought us the likes of Fatherland and Munich. In Second Sleep he takes... More
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