The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Ken Follett is no stranger to the espionage novel — he’s churned several best-selling thrillers that display his mastery of suspense. His subjects have ranged from bio-terrorism in Scotland to crime trafficking in Victorian England to covert operations in Nazi Germany. His true masterpiece, however, takes readers beyond global intrigue and espionage and into the long-past realm of medieval England. The Pillars of the Earth is historical fiction, like many of Follett’s novels, but deviates from his usual thriller formula. Instead, it is a multi-perspective simulation of what life was possibly like in the 12th century. Follett’s tale is realistically bleak, utilizing the harsh language, Byzantine politics, and chaotic behavior of the time. Death is prominent and cruel characters are abounding. Follett even details, in his own creatively gruesome method, the death of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The move is bold — retelling history is a tricky endeavor — but offers a dramatic twist to a highly relevant historical event.

What separates The Pillars of the Earth from other historical novels is not its realism, but the skillful weaving of multiple tales into one larger chronicle. There are multiple protagonists, each with their own deliberate goal and obstacle. Tom Builder, a mason with a dream to construct a massive cathedral, struggles to find work to keep his impoverished family from starving. Philip, a clever country clergyman, is given the task of maintaining a run down priory in Kingsbridge and must transform the church estate into a profitable asset. Aliena, the daughter of the Earl of Shiring, is flung unto the streets and forced to sustain her younger brother, an aspiring squire, after her father is overthrown by a greedy neighboring lord.

Through the course of the novel, Follett forces the reader to relive a chaotic world in which uncertainty dominates the society and politics of the time. Characters are dynamic in the strictest sense of the word, displaying a broad range of emotions typical of human personality. The feral and awkward child, Jack, is tamed by his adoration of the heiress Aliena. Through a series of encounters with Tom Builder, Jack eventually becomes his apprentice, inheriting Tom’s dream of becoming a master architect. The story’s main antagonist, William, is dastardly through and through, but struggles with the prevailing faith of the time through his morbid and disheartening fear of the horrors of Hell. Philip, who is outwardly warm, hospitable, and religious, develops ambition and is forced to adopt a sterner attitude to match the anarchy of the 12th century. At 973 pages, Follett’s novel is epic — he details their struggles and interactions in a storyline that spans nearly half a century. With the exception of an unexpected shift in protagonists, the story is seamless, offering a balanced blend of suspense, drama, action, politics and history while maintaining a thought-provoking plot. There are more than a few decent historical accounts of the medieval period, but few match the masterful storytelling in The Pillars of the Earth.