Bristol House

[Lianne]

Bristol House was a very interesting read. The author utilises information about the Jewish presence in 16th century English society effectively, tying it with events surrounding the religious and monastic houses at a time when Henry VIII is breaking away from Rome. The characters, especially the protagonist Annie Kendall, is quite a unique character whose back story is one I haven't really come across in these kinds of novels yet.

While I enjoyed the way that the story gradually unfolded, with each of the elements slowly clicking into place, it did feel as though the story was moving a little too leisurely–the danger felt too far away for the first half of the novel, making the urgency for Annie to finish her research and investigate further feel rather off (despite of the nature of academic research being a slow and accurate process).

Overall, Bristol House was an interesting and intelligent read with plenty of twists and turns and fascinating and well-rounded characters to go with the story. The pacing felt a little uneven at times but otherwise I’d recommend this novel for fans of Kate Mosse and Susanna Kearsley as well as for fans of historical fiction in the vein of Steve Berry.

My complete review of the novel was originally posted at eclectictales.com: http://www.eclectictales.com/blog/2013/03/22/review-bristol-house/