Before that, if anyone had asked me if I would read a massive book about building a cathedral, I probably would have raised an eyebrow and dismissed it with a polite 'no, thank you'. But it is a good thing that the book came heavily recommended so I eventually sat down to see what it was about. This was soon followed by a furious googling of the terms 'transepts', 'nave' and 'buttress' along with a dozen other architectural terms. I am so glad I overcame my initial skepticism because what followed was unexpectedly special indeed!
For decades, Welsh novelist Ken Follett was best known for his bestselling thrillers, beginning with Eye of the Needle (1978) which cemented his reputation as a master of the spy-thriller genre. A decade later, he took a sharp detour and indulged his long-standing passion for the architecture of classic European cathedrals when he published Pillars of the Earth (1989), the first instalment of the acclaimed Kingsbridge series.
Ken Follett's best-selling Kingsbridge novels namely Pillars of the Earth, World Without End (2007) and A Column of Fire (2017), are much loved across the globe for their historical detail, gripping plots and memorable characters. Both Pillars of the Earth and World Without End have even been made into television mini-series. A fourth novel, The Evening and the Morning published in 2020 is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth.
After spending a rewarding ~2.5 months on 3.5K pages and 1.2 million words, I am finally ready with my review 😀
