Sovereign cover art

Sovereign

A Matthew Shardlake Novel

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Sovereign

By: C. J. Sansom
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £9.99

Buy Now for £9.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Abridged edition.

Following on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third title in C. J. Sansom's bestselling Shardlake series.

Autumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York.

Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for the Archbishop Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation.

But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age . . .

Continue the gripping historical series with Revelation, Heartstone, Lamentation and Tombland.

© C.J. Sansom; (P) Macmillan Publishers Ltd Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery Thriller & Suspense Fiction England King Royalty Exciting Suspense

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Shardlake: Lamentation cover art
Shardlake: Dissolution cover art
The Unquiet Bones cover art
Cathedral of Bones cover art
The Seeker cover art
A Plague on Both Your Houses cover art
The Ashes of London cover art
A Conspiracy of Violence cover art
The Diamond Throne cover art
Birthright cover art
Speaks the Nightbird cover art
Henry VIII: King and Court cover art
The Jekyll Revelation cover art
Sacred Treason cover art
The Hangman's Daughter cover art
The King’s Gambit cover art

Critic reviews

"Anton Lesser performs with marvellous versatility, helped by Sansom's sure touch for voicing telling detail with simple directness." (The Times)

"Sanson's description of the brutality of Tudor life is strong stuff, but he is a master storyteller". (The Guardian)

"Anton Lesser is in his usual brilliant form... Smashing!". (The Daily Express)
All stars
Most relevant  
Another very interesting and enjoyable Shardlake story, full of historical facts and yet entertaining too.

A great story that kept me hooked until the very e

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My husband and I listened to this on a journey and time passed so quickly we couldn't believe it when we arrived. An enthralling story. We really enjoyed it.

Sovereign

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Anton Lesser is a talented and delightful narrator, C J Sansom's Matthew Shardlake is a delight as ever and the plot is absorbing and interesting.

Suberb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed it, particularly with Anton Lesser reading it. I do feel with audible books, the narrator is so important, and Anton Lesser brings the characters alive. Don't want the stories to end, because I enjoy them so much :)

Another excellent story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Poor Matthew Shardlake is forced by Cranmer to go north to meet up with the Procession of Henry VIII and his unfortunate queen of the moment, Catherine Howard. Henry is to accept the homage of the northern lords after a failed northern uprising is brutally supressed. Shardlake and Barrak, his clerk, are to go to York to meet up with the royal procession, review petitions and to see that a rebel prisoner is brought safely back to London for questioning. The task is complicated by attempts on his life and on the life of the prisoner.

The plot is gripping and the detail about the politics of time is enlightening. The feeling of the uncertainty and cheapness of life in Henry's reign is shown as well as that of the people of the court who may rise and fall on a whim of an irascible monarch.

Brilliantly read by Anton Lesser who brings all the characters to life. This is another of the excellent books in the series by CJ Samson about Matthew Shardlake, the reign of Henry VIIIth and the beginning of the English Protestant movement.

No holiday

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Love the narration by Anton Lesser. I hope he can be persuaded to complete the whole series. Fantastic book

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have read "Dark Fire" by C J Sansom and thoroughly enjoyed it, so thought I would try listening to "Sovereign." It is an excellent book, and although I am not an expert, it feels historically accurate. I always enjoy descriptions of the minutiae of life in Tudor times, and C J Sansom has a real art with this. Whilst some parts are gruesome, this is a reflection of the time, so relevant and not gratuitous. The character of Shardlake is well drawn and the twists in the tale keep you guessing. Until I started listening to audio books I had not realised what a difference a reader can make to the story, and Anton Lesser's voice is perfect for the topic. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in Tudor history or likes a good crime novel,

Well worth a listen for history or crime fans

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed it, with audible books the narrator is so important, Lesser brings the characters alive.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story which transports you back in time. Ready for the next book in the series.

Great historical storytelling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the narrator his voice characters for both male and female were very good but I struggled with the amount of characters and their names

Enjoyed it but

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews