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The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth

ClassicsFantasy
Pages
973
Published
1989
Language
English

Synopsis

In twelfth-century England, in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, the dream of building the greatest cathedral the country has ever seen binds together the fates of a handful of ordinary and extraordinary people. Tom Builder, a mason searching for work to support his family; Prior Philip, an idealistic monk determined to see the cathedral rise; Aliena, a dispossessed noblewoman; and Jack, an artist in stone — their lives are shaped by ambition, faith, love, and revenge against the backdrop of a country torn apart by civil war.

Spanning decades and generations, Ken Follett's epic follows the building of the cathedral through famine, betrayal, and the brutal rivalries of church and crown. Around the construction site swirl the schemes of grasping nobles and clergymen, most notably the ruthless William Hamleigh and the calculating Bishop Waleran, whose designs threaten everything the people of Kingsbridge are trying to build.

A departure from the thrillers that made Follett famous, The Pillars of the Earth became one of the best-loved historical novels of its era and the first book in the Kingsbridge series. Rich in period detail and driven by unforgettable characters, it is a sweeping story of the men and women who raised a monument in stone.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

AtmosphericEmotionalTenseGritty
Family SagaRevengeCourt IntrigueBetrayal

Genres

Classics Fantasy Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Medieval History Suspense Thriller

About the author

K
Ken Follett

Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thriller and historical fiction. Born in Cardiff in 1949, he worked as a newspaper reporter and then in publishing before his breakthrough as a novelist with the spy thriller Eye of the Needle (1978). He is best known for the Kingsbridge series, which began with The Pillars of the Earth (1989), and for the Century Trilogy (Fall of Giants, Winter of the World, Edge of Eternity). His books have sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide in more than 80 countries and...

Characters

Jack JacksonProtagonist

Ellen's son and Tom's stepson, a gifted, curious builder in stone who grows into a visionary master mason.

Tom BuilderProtagonist

A master mason who wanders southern England looking for work and whose lifelong ambition is to build a great cathedral.

Prior PhilipProtagonist

An idealistic monk who becomes prior of Kingsbridge and fights church and crown alike to see the cathedral rise.

AlienaProtagonist

Daughter of the disgraced Earl Bartholomew, impoverished by her father's arrest, who rebuilds her fortunes as a wool merchant.

William HamleighAntagonist

A cruel, vengeful nobleman whose pursuit of Aliena and of the earldom torments Kingsbridge and its people.

All characters in The Pillars of the Earth

Frequently asked questions

  • Is The Pillars of the Earth part of a series?

    Yes. It is the first of Ken Follett's Kingsbridge novels, followed by World Without End and A Column of Fire. Each book stands on its own and is set generations apart in the same fictional town, so you can read The Pillars of the Earth without having read anything else by Follett.

  • Is Kingsbridge a real place?

    No. Kingsbridge and its priory are invented, as is the neighbouring town of Shiring; Follett placed Kingsbridge in Wiltshire, in southern England. Real places do appear around them, including Winchester, Gloucester and Salisbury, and the cathedral's architecture draws on real English cathedrals of the period.

  • Is The Pillars of the Earth based on real history?

    The people of Kingsbridge are invented, but the England around them is not. The novel runs from the sinking of the White Ship to the murder of Thomas Becket, and its central stretch falls during the Anarchy, the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Real figures such as Stephen, Maud, Robert of Gloucester and Henry II appear at the edges of the story.

  • How long is The Pillars of the Earth?

    It is a long book, and the page count depends on the edition: the 1989 William Morrow first edition runs to 973 pages, while the 2023 Pan paperback runs to 1,104. The story spans roughly forty years, so it reads as a multigenerational saga rather than a single continuous plot.

  • Are there content warnings for The Pillars of the Earth?

    Yes. The novel opens with a public hanging and contains sustained violence throughout, including warfare, torture and the burning of a town. It also contains depictions of rape, one of which is extended and brutal and drives a large part of the plot. Readers sensitive to sexual violence should go in knowing this.

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