Editing C. J. Sansom

{{Short description|British author of crime fiction (1952–2024)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] --> 
| name         = C. J. Sansom
| image       =  <!-- NOTE TO EDITORS: Do not replace the header image unless it is with a photo under a public domain or free license (NOT the same as fair use). Any fair use photos (i.e. promotional photos, album covers) are copyright violations and will be deleted. Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fair use criteria -->
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| caption      = 
| pseudonym    = 
| birth_name   = 
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1952|12|09|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, UK
| death_date   = {{death date and age|2024|04|27|1952|12|09|df=y}}
| death_place  = near [[Brighton]], England, UK
| occupation   = Author, solicitor
| period       = 
| genres        = [[Historical fiction]] and [[crime fiction]]
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| movement     = 
| notableworks = [[Shardlake series]]
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| awards       = [[Sidewise Award]]
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| website      = {{url|https://pages.panmacmillan.com/c-j-sansom}}
| portaldisp   = 
}}

'''Christopher John Sansom''' (9 December 1952 – 27 April 2024) was a British writer of [[Historical mystery|historical crime]] novels, best known for his [[Shardlake series|Matthew Shardlake]] series. He also wrote the spy novel ''[[Winter in Madrid]]'' and the alternate history novel ''[[Dominion (Sansom novel)|Dominion]]''. He won numerous book awards, including the 2005 [[CWA Historical Dagger|Ellis Peters Historical Dagger]], the [[Sidewise Award for Alternate History]] in 2013 and the [[Cartier Diamond Dagger]] in 2022. ''[[Shardlake (TV series)|Shardlake]]'', a television series based on Sansom's novel ''[[Dissolution (Sansom novel)|Dissolution]]'', started streaming on [[Disney+]] less than a week after his death.

==Early life==
Christopher John Sansom was born in [[Edinburgh]] on 9 December 1952,<ref name="Tele">{{cite news |title=CJ Sansom, novelist admired for the rigour of his bestselling Shardlake Tudor detective stories – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/04/29/cj-sansom-novelist-shardlake-tudor-series-historical/ |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429105013/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/04/29/cj-sansom-novelist-shardlake-tudor-series-historical/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the only son of Trevor Sansom. He attended [[George Watson's College]] but left the school with no qualifications. Sansom wrote about the bullying he suffered there.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/cj-sansom-ten-years-at-george-watsons-college-nearly-killed-me-half-a-century-on-i-fear-its-still-a-bullies-playground-xqtjjvpfl | work=[[The Times]] | first=C.J. | last=Sansom | title=CJ Sansom: Ten years at George Watson's College nearly killed me. Half a century on, I fear it's still a bullies' playground | date=6 May 2018 | access-date=3 August 2021 | archive-date=3 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803131338/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cj-sansom-ten-years-at-george-watsons-college-nearly-killed-me-half-a-century-on-i-fear-its-still-a-bullies-playground-xqtjjvpfl | url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequently he was educated at the [[University of Birmingham]], where he obtained a BA and then a PhD in history.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/nov/15/cj-sansom-interview | work=The Guardian | first=Sarah | last=Crown | title=CJ Sansom: a life in writing | date=15 November 2010 | access-date=11 December 2016 | archive-date=1 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201230304/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/nov/15/cj-sansom-interview | url-status=live }}</ref> After working in a variety of jobs, he decided to retrain as a solicitor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shardlake series author CJ Sansom dies age 71 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/c97z60z6j3jo |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=29 April 2024 |date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429112413/https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/c97z60z6j3jo |url-status=live }}</ref> He practised in [[Sussex]] as a lawyer for the disadvantaged, before leaving the legal profession to become a full-time writer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/articles/c97z60z6j3jo | title=Shardlake series author CJ Sansom dies age 71 | publisher=BBC | date=29 April 2024 | accessdate=30 April 2024 | archive-date=29 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429131351/https://www.bbc.com/articles/c97z60z6j3jo | url-status=live }}</ref>
Sansom lived in Sussex.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

==Work==
Sansom came to prominence with the [[Shardlake series]], his [[historical mystery]] series set in the reign of [[Henry VIII]] in the 16th century. The series' main character is the [[kyphosis|hunchback]]ed lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by Mark Poer, then Jack Barak and also Nicholas Overton. Shardlake works on commission initially from [[Thomas Cromwell]] in ''[[Dissolution (Sansom novel)|Dissolution]]'' and ''[[Dark Fire (Sansom novel)|Dark Fire]]'', then [[Archbishop]] [[Thomas Cranmer]] in ''[[Sovereign (Sansom novel)|Sovereign]]'' and ''[[Revelation (Sansom novel)|Revelation]]'', [[Queen consort|Queen]] [[Catherine Parr]] in ''[[Heartstone (novel)|Heartstone]]'' and ''[[Lamentation (novel)|Lamentation]]'' and finally [[Elizabeth I|Princess Elizabeth]] in ''[[Tombland]]''. ''Dark Fire'' won the 2005 Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger.<ref name="Philpott 2022 u688">{{cite web | last=Philpott | first=Mary Laura | title=Shelf Awareness for Thursday, February 10, 2022 | website=Shelf Awareness | date=10 February 2022 | url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4167#m55292 | access-date=30 April 2024 | archive-date=4 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704211427/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4167#m55292 | url-status=live }}</ref>

After ''Dark Fire'' was published, a ''[[The Sunday Times|Sunday Times]]'' review commented: "Historical crime fiction is sometimes little more than a modern adventure in fancy dress. Not so the novels of CJ Sansom, whose magnificent books set in the reign of Henry VIII bring to life the sounds and smells of Tudor England...".<ref>[http://www.greeneheaton.co.uk/pages/authors/title.asp?AuthorID=20&TitleID=86 C. J. Sansom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815194515/http://www.greeneheaton.co.uk/pages/authors/title.asp?AuthorID=20&TitleID=86 |date=15 August 2007 }} article at Greene Heaton.</ref> 
      
In the novel ''Tombland'' (published in 2018), Shardlake works as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, Lady Elizabeth, investigating a murder during the time of [[Kett's Rebellion]] in Norfolk. According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', "''Tombland'' is more of a grand historical epic than a tightly packed whodunnit, like some of the earlier novels; but 800 pages in Shardlake's company will always fly by".<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 October 2018 |title=Tombland by CJ Sansom review – royals and revolting peasants |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/28/tombland-cj-sansom-review |access-date=11 November 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111102925/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/28/tombland-cj-sansom-review |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Dissolution'' was adapted in 10 episodes for [[BBC Radio 4]] in September 2012, and ''Revelation'' in March 2017. The author's death occurred less than a week before [[Shardlake (TV series)|the television series]] based on ''Dissolution'' was to start streaming on the [[Disney+]] network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/29/cj-sansom-author-of-the-shardlake-novels-dies-aged-71|title=CJ Sansom, author of the Shardlake novels, dies aged 71|date=29 April 2024|work=The Guardian|access-date=29 April 2024|quote=|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429112456/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/29/cj-sansom-author-of-the-shardlake-novels-dies-aged-71|url-status=live}}</ref>  

Sansom explained his reasons for making his protagonist an [[Lawyer|attorney]], in an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]''.

<blockquote>I thought it made sense for Shardlake to be a lawyer for a number of reasons. First, the law was my profession: I find legal practice endlessly interesting. Second, it existed then and now, so it provides a point of contact for readers. And third, it's democratic: it offers a way into any number of mysteries, and puts Shardlake in the way of an endless variety of characters.<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref name="The Times"/></blockquote>

Sansom also said that he planned to write further Shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of Elizabeth I.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

Sansom also wrote ''[[Winter in Madrid]]'', a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the [[Spanish Civil War]] and ''[[Dominion (Sansom novel)|Dominion]]'', an [[alternate history|alternative history]] novel set in a Britain following a fictional [[Axis victory in World War II]]. About the latter novel, a ''Guardian'' review called the premise "an invented mid-20th century Britain that has the intricate detail and delineation of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, though thankfully described in better prose".<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 December 2012 |title=Dominion by CJ Sansom – review |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/06/dominion-cj-sansom-review |access-date=11 November 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111102946/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/dec/06/dominion-cj-sansom-review |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Awards==
''Dark Fire'' won the 2005 [[CWA Historical Dagger|Ellis Peters Historical Dagger]], awarded by the [[Crime Writers' Association]] (CWA). Sansom himself was "Very Highly Commended" in the 2007 CWA [[Dagger in the Library]] [[award]], for the Shardlake series.<ref>[http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2007/library.html the CWA Dagger in the Library 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915062709/http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/2007/library.html |date=15 September 2007 }} – C.J. Sansom shortlisted for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award.</ref> ''Dominion'' won the [[Sidewise Award for Alternate History]] in 2013.<ref>[http://www.sfsite.com/news/2013/07/01/sidewise-award-nominees-3/ Sidewise Award Nominees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109011941/https://www.sfsite.com/news/2013/07/01/sidewise-award-nominees-3/ |date=9 January 2019 }}, ''SF Site News'', 1 July 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Glyer |work=[[File 770]] |title=2013 Sidewise Awards |url=http://file770.com/?p=14355 |date=31 August 2013 |access-date=4 May 2024 |archive-date=25 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925132042/http://file770.com/?p=14355 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, Sansom received the [[Cartier Diamond Dagger]] from the CWA.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mechler |first1=Anita |title=CJ Sansom Wins Diamond Dagger Award |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/CJ-Sansom-Wins-Diamond-Dagger-Award-Dissolution-bookpulse |website=Library Journal |access-date=19 January 2023 |date=10 February 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119025437/https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/CJ-Sansom-Wins-Diamond-Dagger-Award-Dissolution-bookpulse |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Death==
In 2012, he was diagnosed with [[multiple myeloma]] (cancer in bone marrow cells). He died from the cancer at a hospice near his home in Brighton on 27 April 2024, at the age of 71.<ref>{{cite news|title=C.J. Sansom, bestselling author of historical mysteries, dies at 71|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/04/29/cj-sansom-dead/|last=Smith|first=Harrison|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=29 April 2024|access-date=29 April 2024|archive-date=4 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240504211520/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/04/29/cj-sansom-dead/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Tele"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Willix |first1=Pierra |title=Author C.J. Sansom dies aged 71 days before launch of new Disney Plus TV series |url=https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/29/c-j-sansom-author-shardlake-series-books-dead-aged-71-20736957/ |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=Metro |date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429094847/https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/29/c-j-sansom-author-shardlake-series-books-dead-aged-71-20736957/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="The Times">{{cite news |title=CJ Sansom obituary: Novelist who combined murder mystery with the Tudor dynasty |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/cj-sansom-obituary-ldsm863z3 |access-date=29 April 2024 |work=[[The Times]] |date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=30 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430000554/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cj-sansom-obituary-ldsm863z3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===[[Shardlake series|Matthew Shardlake series]]===
* {{cite book |last=Sansom |first=C.J. |title=[[Dissolution (C. J. Sansom novel)|Dissolution]] |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |edition=hardback 1st |location=London |isbn=9780670032037}}
* {{cite book |last=Sansom |first=C.J. |title=[[Dark Fire (C. J. Sansom novel)|Dark Fire]] |publisher=Macmillan |year=2004 |edition=hardcover 1st |location=London |isbn=9781405005449}}
* {{cite book |last=Sansom |first=C.J. |title=[[Sovereign (C. J. Sansom novel)|Sovereign]] |publisher=Macmillan |year=2006 |location=London |isbn=0-3304-3608-2}}
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Revelation (C. J. Sansom novel)|Revelation]] | publisher = Macmillan | year = 2008 | location = London | isbn = 978-0-3304-47102}}
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Heartstone (C. J. Sansom novel)|Heartstone]] | publisher = Mantle | year = 2010 | location = London | isbn = 978-1405092739}}
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Lamentation (C. J. Sansom novel)|Lamentation]] | publisher = Mantle | year = 2014 | location = London | isbn = 978-1447260257}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/cjsansom/lamentation?format=978144726025701 |title=Lamentation - C. J. Sansom - 9781447260257 |access-date=14 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914113941/http://www.panmacmillan.com/book/cjsansom/lamentation?format=978144726025701 |archive-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Tombland]] | publisher = Mantle | year = 2018 | location = London | isbn = 978-1447284482}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.panmacmillan.com/%20/authors/c-j-sansom/tombland/9781447284482|title=Tombland by C. J. Sansom|website=Pan Macmillan|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=29 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129040404/https://www.panmacmillan.com/%20/authors/c-j-sansom/tombland/9781447284482|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other novels===
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Winter in Madrid]] | publisher = Macmillan | year = 2006 | location = London | isbn = 1-4050-0546-7}}
* {{cite book | last = Sansom | first = C.J. |title = [[Dominion (Sansom novel)|Dominion]] | publisher = Mantle | year = 2012 | location = London | isbn = 978-0230744165}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{imdb name|14711179}}
* {{discogs artist|C.J. Sansom}}
* {{Isfdb Name|197367}}
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3650518/Schoolboy-rivalries-in-the-Spanish-civil-war.html  Schoolboy rivalries in the Spanish civil war] A review of ''Winter in Madrid,'' in ''Telegraph'', 26 February 2006
* [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/crime/story/0,6000,1344525,00.html A wherry across the Thames] A review of ''Dark Fire'', by Stella Duffy, in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 6 November 2004
* [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/books/20080120_Spanish_Civil_War__stripped_of_Hemingways_romance.html Spanish Civil War, stripped of Hemingway's romance] A review of ''Winter in Madrid'', by Katherine Bailey, in ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 20 January 2008
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140602195058/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/fiction/article87906.ece Revelation] A review of "Revelation", by Peter Kemp, in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', 27 April 2008
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716233521/http://www.opettaja.fi/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/OPETTAJALEHTI_EPAPER_PG/2010_20/147857.htm Romanttinen vakoojatarina] A review of Finnish-translated ''Winter in Madrid'', by Jari Olavi Hiltunen, in ''Opettaja'' 21 May 2010
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130722001509/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/review-cj-sansom-dominion Dominion] A review of ''Dominion'', in ''Upcoming4.me'' 12 July 2013
* [http://www.bookbrowse.com/books_by_author/index.cfm/author_number/1517/cj-sansom#books Reviews & excerpts] of ''Winter in Madrid'', ''Revelation'' and ''Dominion'' at ''BookBrowse'' 2008–2014

{{CJ Sansom Novels}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansom, C. J.}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:21st-century British male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century British novelists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham]]
[[Category:British historical novelists]]
[[Category:British male novelists]]
[[Category:British mystery writers]]
[[Category:British solicitors]]
[[Category:Cartier Diamond Dagger winners]]
[[Category:People educated at George Watson's College]]
[[Category:Sidewise Award winners]]
[[Category:Writers from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period]]
[[Category:Writers of historical mysteries]]