The Winding Stair

by Jesse Norman

Of all revenge, the greatest is this: that which cometh suddenly, without expectation.

AMBITION. REVENGE.

Queen Elizabeth I is dying, James I waiting to accede. But who will thrive, and who will fail, under the new king? Will it be the scholar Francis Bacon, whose brilliant mind is the envy of the court? Or his hated rival Edward Coke, already acclaimed as the greatest lawyer of his generation?

The Winding Stair tells the gripping story of these two founders of our modern world, and their bitter struggle for influence and power. It brings the palaces, parlours, parliaments and royal courts of Elizabethan and Jacobean England to life, giving a peerless view into the lives, thoughts and deeds of its protagonists.

Combining humour, wit and imagination with deep research, this novel is a dazzling synthesis of history and fiction that takes the genre to new places: an epic tale of jealousy and intrigue, which also holds a darkened mirror to our own contemporary politics.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

480 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2023

About the author

Jesse Norman, MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, is a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange, the most influential British conservative think tank based in London. He is widely regarded as one of the architects of New Conservatism, a political philosophy that stresses using traditionally conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society.

Norman was educated at Eton College and Merton College, Oxford, graduating with a 2:2 in classics. He did further study at University College London, where he held an honorary research fellowship in philosophy and obtained a PhD. His books include The Achievement of Michael Oakeshott (ed), After Euclid and The Big Society: The Anatomy of the New Politics.

Reviews

[Jodie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The blurb above says ‘combining humour, wit and imagination’ - believe me there is none of the three. This is closer to a text book than a novel, and not a good one at that. Long tedious tracts of info that repeat over and over - all tell, no show.
The reviews that mention Mantel and C J Sansom can’t be real. This book is not even close to the mastery of those historical novels.
I think I’m more cross because I bought the book - nothing worse than looking forward to a great story and being sorely disappointed.

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed. It is such a fascinating topic - yet the book is dry and dull. Comparisons to Mantel are such overblown.

The author has spent very many hours in the archives; sadly, much of what he has read seems to be repeated here almost verbatim. The book lacks the spark of life.

[L K Skelcey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not in any way similar to Hilary Mantell's work as lauded by a Sunday Times journalist last week. In fact, that was why I bought this. However, it is extremely hard going and seems more like a huge lesson in law and latin rather than an enjoyable chronicle about the life of Francis Bacon. I sadly returned it after trying very hard to to enjoy it, but failing miserably.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to understand the role of Magna Carta and the defence of common law by Edward Coke, but rather turgid!

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an unusual post for me. It is a SIFION post - shall I finish it or not? I love historical fiction but The Winding Stair is too dry in subject and human interior to be really classified as fiction. I don't have any liking for any of the characters let alone Francis Bacon. At the moment all its doing for me is confirming me in my utter disdain for James 6th/1st ( remember he was the one who set off all the witch-burnings) and for monarchy, a system which panders to rich individuals who just eat money for a pastime and keep their subjects in an uneasy thrall to them.

The cover blurb suggests it as a worthy sequel to Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I completely disagree - she infused so much more depth in her characters particularly Cromwell, wrote with a lightness of touch and wit and , was just a much more imaginative teller of history. I notice that Daphne du Maurier also had a stab at Francis Bacon. I bet that had intrigue!

I am sure Jesse Norman has done his research well and may even be trying to infer some interesting parallels with the Boris Johnston/Dominic Cummings distaste for law and government but unless you have a flair for fiction, stick with non-fiction.

[Dominic H · Rating 4 out of 5]

One's first thoughts in the early pages of this book are perhaps unsurprisingly of Hilary Mantel. Jesse Norman seems to be creating a similar canvas of living history for the career of Francis Bacon as she did for that of Thomas Cromwell with his recounting of the very young Bacon's first encounters with Queen Elizabeth. But much as I love Mantel's trilogy, one very quickly realises that this is a novel of a different order of quality altogether. It is a brilliant, cerebral book, demanding and rewarding in equal measure. A book which contains a lot of primary source quotation in Elizabethan and Jacobean English (superbly marshalled) and relatively little dialogue, whose central subject is really that of English legal history. You may feel this is a not promising framework or set of ingredients, but Jesse Norman has an alchemical feel for his materials and narrative and has written a genuine page turner. Very highly recommended.

[Antony S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Jesse Norman must have mates at The Times who gave it such gushing reviews and comparing it to House of Cards and the Wolf Hall trilogy. It isn’t anywhere close.

This novel is woefully tedious, the first sections ramble on and on but don’t seem to advance the plot at all; there is no dialogue or intrigue, and it is a real struggle to keep up with what is going on.

Do not bother reading this book. I had to give up halfway through as the promised great rivalry between the two main characters never materialised.

[Mary Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very scholarly book in which the author seems to forget that he is writing a novel. I found it educational rather than enjoyable. It traces the rivalry between Coke and Bacon in the early 17th century court, a rivalry fuelled by the desire for status and wealth. But it is the Law that is used as the weapon- Bacon using the Law to protect the Divine Right of Kings and Coke plus a Parliament full of elected lawyers using it to build up the power of Parliament. In this, the seeds of the English Civil War become apparent.

[ANTHONY CUTLER · Rating 3 out of 5]

All very clever but ultimately not quite satisfying. There's clearly an attempt here to occupy Hilary Mantel territory but Norman fails to be compelling. I enjoyed it enough and kept reading but it's a difficult book to recommend. Impressive use of language but that's all really.

I have to say, it only got as high as 3 stars because I was interested in the detailed 16th/17th century legal history. For any reader not engaged by that, this is a book that really isn't going to work.

[Liz Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

To compare this to Mantel is over praising it. I enjoyed it but found the style became repetitive while the detailed journey through the interlocking lives of the two protagonists made me just want to get to the end. Having said that, it did make me think seriously for the first time about the history of law making in this country and not simply Statute law. But neither of the main characters elicited much sympathy and were difficult to empathise with.

[Sian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sad to say that I gave up on this book after a few chapters. It was clearly really well researched and perhaps that was its biggest problem for me. It just did not read as a work of historical fiction or a novel but rather a biography, and a rather flat one at that. This was not what I was looking for at this point so I abandoned it.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry I’ve had to abandon this book - I got to page 200 and wasn’t half way through so couldn’t waste anymore time. It reads like a list of facts / events - there is no character development and no plot/story

[Bethany Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in one day and I couldn’t put this one down, it’s absolutely brilliant! 🤩 📖

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Matthew Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Struggled. Can see the appeal but not for me, Clive.

[Thea Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Gill Harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very enthused to read this book, but ended up sorely disappointed. It certainly doesn’t live up to reviews. It cannot and should not be compared to Hilary Mantel’s works. Without doubt it was very well researched but ended up as a difficult text, feeling in parts more of a thesis than a novel.

[Carole Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this quite complicated sometimes, the legal goings-on and stuff. Wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

[Giulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels a little disingenuous to give a rating and a review seeing as I made it four chapters in before deciding I had better uses for my time than reading this book. But…
This book is touted as a historical fiction with a trial edge. Interesting! But the actual substance of this book was not it. Historical fiction delves into the inner life of people, and our main character is the very famous Francis Bacon. A brilliant man. And so I expected a human inner life to contrast the brilliant life but no - this is like a bad fan fiction for how fantastic Francis Bacon has always been. There is little humanity, only enormous admiration for the character and a need to show off extreme cleverness by the author.
And after all those words I read, what did I learn about the story or the plot or where it is going? Nothing. I thought I was going crazy but the other reviews affirmed my confused feelings. This book didn’t live up to any expectations and in fact made me feel like I was scammed of my money.