Combining the stories of a research assignment undertaken by desperate scholar and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall and the preoccupations of sixteenth-century Carthusian monks, Bristol House is fast-paced, conspiracy-driven historical fiction of the best kind. Swerling’s ghost story provides illumination on Thomas Cromwell’s dealing with the church while linking it to modern-day religious politics in this excellently researched novel.
I knew that I wanted to read Bristol House immediately. It hit all on all of the key words that make me take notice. There is a scholar, and research, it has a historical component,dual time periods, it’s set in England. I could go on, but just sign me up. The novel doesn’t disappoint. Fans of many genres will find something in this worthy page turner. It’s essentially about a woman who is trying to put her life together after many years of making poor choices, and falling in with a dangerous crowd while she does it.
