Thomas More: A Life in Five Friendships

“When I entered the cell, I found my father with tears in his eyes.
"Father, are you afraid? Perhaps it will help if you talk about it." He looked ahead in silence for a long time, then nodded slowly. "Afraid of death?" He shook his head. "Not of death, dear daughter.
I fear the torture.' When I said goodbye later that day, I saw his smile reappear. It had to, since I had taken all his tears with me to cry them out in solitude at home.

Joris Tulkens tells the story of the rise and fall of Thomas More, author of Utopia. He does this using five testimonies, five friends who knew him closely and each describe a different facet of his life and ideas: Desiderius Erasmus, Pieter Gillis, Hendrik VIII, Thomas Cromwell and his favourite daughter Margaret. At the end, More himself speaks to refute or qualify their judgement.

JORIS TULKENS is at home in the sixteenth century. He has previously written books about Erasmus, Vesalius, Johanna the Mad, Pieter Gillis, Nicolaes Cleynaerts. Time and again he succeeds in capturing the inner world,
to fathom the character, merits and weaknesses of his main characters and to portray them as people of flesh and blood in a smoothly readable story. At the same time he paints a vivid picture of the beginning of our modern times.