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John Gower #1
William Morrow
October 2014
On Sale: September 23, 2014
Featuring: John Gower; Geoffry Chaucer
464 pages
ISBN: 0062240331
EAN: 9780062240330
Kindle: B00DB36D9K
Paperback / e-Book
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Mystery Historical
In Chaucer's London, betrayal, murder, royal intrigue,
mystery, and dangerous politics swirl around the existence
of a prophetic book that foretells the deaths of England's
kings. Bruce Holsinger's A Burnable Book is an
irresistible historical thriller reminiscent of the classics
An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Name of the Rose, and
The Crimson Petal and the White. London, 1385. Surrounded by ruthless courtiers--including
his powerful uncle, John of Gaunt, and Gaunt's artful
mistress, Katherine Swynford--England's young, still
untested king, Richard II, is in mortal peril, and the
danger is only beginning. Songs are heard across
London--catchy verses said to originate from an ancient book
that prophesies the end 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
labyrinthine conspiracy that reaches from the king's court
to London's slums and stews--and potentially implicates his
own son. As the intrigue deepens, it becomes clear that
Gower, a man with secrets of his own, may be the last hope
to save a king from a terrible fate. 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 epic literary mystery that brings medieval
England gloriously to life.
John Gower
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