Customer Reviews

The Time Before You Die: A Novel of the Reformation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lucy Beckett does a tremendous job of explaining the confusion of the Reformation in England shortly after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536. Using both historical and fictional characters, she weaves the plot by interspersing narrative with letters written by the characters.

While most historians seem to take sides on the Reformation issue, or at least point fingers, Beckett's novel brings you into the characters themselves to "feel their pain;" be it the ex-monk turned Protestant reformer who longs to comfort his dying wife and newborn child; or the Catholic Cardinal who longs to reconcile the two sides but meets resistance by both the Vatican and the Protestants.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was it seemed a bit sluggish in the beginning. But if you can make it through the sloppy bits, it is a real gem!

What a beautiful book! Beckett paints a rich portrait of Reformation England, giving the reader rare and valuable insights into the interior realms of monastic life. I found it both elegant and moving. I wish I was still reading it for the first time!

Like the previous reviewer articulated this book truely weaves fictional and historical events to create a beautiful book which conveys the sadness of a world torn apart by religion and politics. Both Catholics and Protestants are presented with their strengths and warts and the complicated political and social factors involved in the reformation/counter reformation and eventual Anglican independence, are presented to help expalin how this tragic moment of history happened. May also give us the insight to prevent denominational squabbles that exist today if the message of the book are meditated on.

As a reviewer has already said, the beginning of this book is slow, in my opinion, very nearly too slow to be publishable. The first time I read it I was equally disappointed with the ending.

HOWEVER, on reflection this is one of the very best books I have ever read and I'm glad I didn't toss it on the numerous occasions I felt like doing that. If the beginning was slow, it was because a great gulf had to be bridged between now and a 'then' which is not a caricature of the past. If the ending was disappointing it is because I have wasted too much time on Hollywood-style (un)happy endings and lost sight of the possibility of joyful endings which are also tinged with sadness.

Yes, this is a GOOD book, but one which many immersed in the 'action-packed' culture will find it difficult to get into. Such a pity, because it is so very much worth the effort.

Not that anyone ever said that 16th Century life was a walk in the park, but....on top of the stake-burnings, plague outbreaks, and poor plumbing options, you also had a lot of moral dilemmas.

Lucy Beckett introduces us to Robert Fletcher, an English monk whose life takes many twists and turns as he struggles with the effects of the Reformation. He is pushed from a satisfying, ordered, contemplative life into a world that has lost its bearings and is trying to re-set its compass. Over a lifetime, the Church, and society, go through crises that force people to take sides again and again. Fletcher, who longs for a close relationship with Christ, must figure out what "faith" means, and how to achieve it.

Cardinal Reginald Pole is an important character in the book, and his life intersects with Fletcher's at several points over the decades. This novel made me want to learn more about Pole, who is portrayed as a man who has paid the price of having integrity.

This is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in history, and not just Church or Reformation history. An understanding of these events really helps explain a lot about Western culture today.

The Tudor era is one of my special interests, and, with Reginald Pole being a character I find particularly fascinating, I'd hoped to love this book. Though it is historically accurate, and provides points of view which are quite enriching to a broad picture of the time, I found the style of writing and plot to be rather boring.