When Christ and His Saints Slept: A Novel

A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned.

Sharon Kay Penman's magnificent fifth novel summons to life a spectacular medieval tragedy whose unfolding breaks the heart even as it prepares the way for splendors to come—the glorious age of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Plantagenets that would soon illumine the world.

Customer Reviews:

Penman Vol. 1

By Richard R. Carlton - July 21, 2002

Penman emerged long ago as one of the best historical novelists and continues to solidify her reputation with each new release. Her special genius lies in the bright and shining historical detail that she can weave into both plot and dialog (she's a very good student of history and at times is absolutely brilliant in conveying to us the workings of medieval minds).Chronologically, this is the first book. It's also the first in the Henry & Eleanor trilogy (the others are Space & Time and Devil's Brood).There is no doubt When Christ And His Saints Slept will stand as a superior work for ages to come. There is certainly a very complex plot (because this era of English history was quite convoluted). Penman does an excellent job of keeping it all straight for us as she leads us through the maze of characters. Yes, it's complicated but if you read the history of these times you quickly come to see what a great job she did in her design of the story.There are touching moments... read more

Extraordinarily well researched, AND well written!

By L. Mountford - June 23, 2000

I've long been interested in the period of history from the fall of the Roman Empire to Elizabeth I of England. Most of my reading about this period has been non-fiction until now. I usually find most historical fiction takes too many liberties with the facts and/or deteriorates into the "bodice-ripper" genre all too common when historical fact is scarce.Ms. Penman's work is, therefore, a pleasant surprise. She sticks to the facts where it matters. She introduces fictional characters as *observers* to the action (as in the character of Ranulf, purported to be one of Henry I's many illegitmate children), rather than active participants who could change the course of history. Where these fictionalized characters were involved in action, it was always along side one of the non-fictional participants, as a "witness." Penman is very careful not to let her fictional characters do too much. Seeing the long civil war through Ranulf's eyes made it seem... read more

Excellent historical fiction

By Tigger "kkegley" - October 13, 1999

Anyone who loves historical fiction knows how difficult it can be to find a writer who remains historically accurate while at the same time using creative license to flesh out the characters. Sharon Kay Penman does this wonderfully. At the end of the story, she goes into detail and explains exactly where she's taken that creative license, so the reader can separate fact from fiction. I've enjoyed every page of this lengthy saga about the battle between Stephen and Maude for the throne. I read somewhere that this book was the first in a trilogy to be written about the Plantaganet dynasty, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading more. I'll read anything this woman writes!