Cj sansom biography
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A tribute from a fan…
On Saturday, April 27th, I finished my long re-read via audiobook of CJ Sansom’s wonderful Shardlake series. Having reviewed Tombland fully when I first read it, I left a very brief comment on Goodreads, merely saying the narration, by Steven Crossley, was as great as the book, and that I had again found it totally absorbing.
I then took to Amazon to check if by any chance the next book had reappeared on their pre-publication listings – Ratcliff, which had been listed a couple of years ago to the excitement of fans but had since been de-listed. I feared in my heart that it would never appear because, although seemingly a very private man, we knew that Sansom was ill, probably terminally, with cancer. And indeed there was no listing.
Two days later, I learned that Sansom had died on that day, April 27th. He is one of the very few authors, the only one I can think of, in fact, whose entire catalogue I have reviewed, giving each of the Shardlake b
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C. J. Sansom
British author of crime fiction (1952–2024)
Christopher John Sansom (9 December 1952 – 27 April 2024) was a British writer of historical crime novels, best known for his Matthew Shardlake series. He also wrote the spy novel Winter in Madrid and the alternate history novel Dominion. He won numerous book awards, including the 2005 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2013 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2022. Shardlake, a television series based on Sansom's novel Dissolution, started streaming on Disney+ less than a week after his death.
Early life
[edit]Christopher John Sansom was born in Edinburgh on 9 December 1952,[1] 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.[2] Subsequently he was educated at the University of Birmingham, where he obtained a BA and then a PhD in history.
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Pan Macmillan remembers C.J. Sansom (1952 – 2024)
Chris won many accolades for his work, including most recently the brott Writers’ Association (CWA) Cartier Diamond dolk Award for his outstanding contribution to the genre. There are over three million copies of his novels in print.
His longtime editor and publisher, Maria Rejt, has said:
‘An intensely private individ, Chris wished from the very början only to be published quietly and without fanfare. But he always took immense pleasure in the public’s enthusiastic responses to his novels and worked tirelessly on each book, never wanting to disappoint a single reader. He was working on his new Shardlake novel, Ratcliff, when he died but his worsening health made progress painfully slow: his meticulous historical research and his writing were always so important to him. I shall miss him hugely, not only as a wonderfully talented writer who gave joy to millions, but as a dear friend of enormous compassion and integrity.’
Lucy