Henry Hitchings Robert Harris’s gripping Act of Oblivion is let down by anachronisms The evocation of period detail doesn’t always convince but Harris's novel is lucid and full of suspense Harris continues: "I took a real-life event - Whalley and Goffe bursting into a church on Christmas Day in 1657 during a Nativity service - and it was easy to imagine Nayler sitting in the congregation."

The former Newsnight reporter, married to novelist Gill Hornby with whom he has four children, has enjoyed enormous success with his books, and television, film and stage adaptations of his work. What keeps him writing? I recoil from that kind of religious repression. Over the course of writing, my sympathies shifted and I felt probably I am one of life's natural Cavaliers. I suppose I would have supported the rights of Parliament against those of the Crown but I'd have probably been a moderate Parliamentarian who accepted the return of the King.He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, "They killed the King." Charles II, 1660: An Act of Free and Generall Pardon Indemnity and Oblivion., Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628–80 (1819), pp. 226–34. British History Online, Date. Retrieved 27 February 2007. Second in the military crime series featuring Special Agents Scott Brodie and Magnolia "Maggie" Taylor, after The Deserter (2019).

From the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and Conclave comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliantly imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their trail—an epic journey into the wilds of seventeeth-century New England, and a chase like no other. My knowledge of 17th century English history doesn't go much beyond the basics. Before reading this book I was unaware of the scope of the hunt for the "regicides", the men who were responsible for the beheading of Charles I as part of Cromwell's rise to power. Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, officers in Cromwell's army, escaped from England to America, thus avoiding the ominous fate that awaited those who were captured in England or on the continent. Act of Oblivion: A Novel is a fictionalization of their lives, and those around them, after they landed in Boston. The second novel in the Cicero trilogy, Lustrum, was published in October 2009. It was released in February 2010 in the US under the alternative title of Conspirata. [ citation needed] The Fear Index (2011) [ edit ] Good and Faithful Servant: The Unauthorized Biography of Bernard Ingham. London: Faber and Faber, December 1990 ISBN 978-0-571-16108-9 But the over-rating here! This is a favorite author for sure, mine too- but length, breadth, and continuity here? Way below par for Robert Harris. Below par for the complexity and length of copy too. My bar is high for the author of Munich, for all of those top notch Roman series based books etc. This one does not begin to rise to the midst of their quality. 2.5 stars and I cannot round it up.One of the people to benefit directly from the Act was John Milton, who was released from prison. [10] Overview of sections [ edit ]

Matteo Garrone, Roberto Saviano, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, and Massimo Gaudioso (2008) It's something I ask myself, but I've been writing and living in my imagination since I was about eight years old so I can't imagine a life where I wouldn't do that," he smiles. Robert Harris (“ Enigma”, “ Pompeii”, “ Fatherland”) is a hugely successful and experienced writer of historical fiction and thrillers and it shows. The author leads us through a fast paced, detailed, historically atmospheric story, always in control of his material, a master storyteller at the height of his powers. Quality assured, there are two aspects of this book that I’m going to look at here, for no other reason than that I find them extremely interesting.If, like me, you come to Act of Oblivion with no knowledge of what happened to Whalley and Goffe (both real people), then I would strongly advise against looking up the details until you’ve finished reading. It’s better not to know and be kept in suspense wondering whether or not they’ll be caught. However, the book wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d expected based on others I’ve read by Robert Harris; although some of the ‘chase’ sections are very gripping, a lot of time is also spent on a memoir Whalley has been writing about the events of the Civil War and his relationship with Oliver Cromwell, and I felt that this slowed the pace down a lot. America in the 1660s was sparsely settled. Two men on the run are housed initially by the Puritans (who sympathized with the anti-monarchists) but must flee when Nayler arrives in America to pursue them. The tale involves maritime travel from London to Massachusetts to the rugged terrain of the Connecticut wilderness. In 2007, after Blair resigned, Harris dropped his other work to write The Ghost. The title refers both to a professional ghostwriter, whose lengthy memorandum forms the novel, and to his immediate predecessor who, as the action opens, has just drowned in gruesome and mysterious circumstances. The dead man has been ghosting the autobiography of a recently unseated British prime minister called Adam Lang, a thinly veiled version of Blair. [6] The fictional counterpart of Cherie Blair is depicted as a sinister manipulator of her husband. Harris told The Guardian before publication: "The day this appears a writ might come through the door. But I would doubt it, knowing him." [7] Lattanzio, Ryan (9 November 2019). "Roman Polanski's 'An Officer and a Spy' Leads 2019 European Film Award Nominations". IndieWire . Retrieved 10 November 2019. Lattanzio, Ryan (28 February 2020). "César Awards 2020: 'Les Misérables' Wins Best Film, No-Show Roman Polanski Takes Best Director". IndieWire . Retrieved 29 February 2020.

McNary, Dave; Alison James; Dade Hayes (11 September 2007). "Polanski pulls out of 'Pompeii' ". Variety . Retrieved 9 December 2015. As is his habit, Harris, 65, a former journalist who has homes in London and Berkshire, immersed himself in his research, including seven original volumes of letters from the pair, who both held senior positions in the Protectorate, to Cromwell's secretary, John Thurloe.This is a novel based on true events. In the 17th century, following the death of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of the monarchy, parliament passed an Act of Oblivion. This pardoned most of those involved in Cromwell’s Commonwealth with the exception of the ‘regicides’ - the men who had put their names to Charles I’s death warrant, who were to be found and executed. Like in An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris has taken a little known historical episode and written a lengthy novel about it - and, like that other novel, Act of Oblivion is unfortunately really boring. Keslassy, Elsa (28 February 2011). " 'Gods and Men,' 'Ghost Writer' top Cesars". Variety . Retrieved 1 March 2011. Several years ago, Harris told me he'd bought a wood-burning stove for his Berkshire home. With first oil prices rising, and then Putin's war sending the cost of gas soaring, it seems more of a sensible investment every time we speak. The subject: a previously-told story concerning two regicides, i.e., individuals who signed Charles I’s death warrant: Colonel Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe (Whalley’s son-in-law). Whalley and Goffe flee to the American colonies to evade hanging, castration,disembowling and drawing and quartering. This part is all true. In the novel, however, we get an atheist/crusading clerk to Charles II’s privy council, one Richard Nayler. Nayler has lost his wife, blames Whalley and Goffe for her death, and sets out to find them and bring them to justice. Meanwhile, for some 19 years, Whalley and Goffe travel to Cambridge, MA, various towns in Connecticut, Hadley, MA, et al, hiding in peoples’ homes, in an old mill, in a cave on a cliff and in the woods which may, at any one time, include soldiers hunting them and Native peoples who are sometimes friendly, sometimes not so friendly.