Book recommendation for May 2026: “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett
If you thought an 1,000 page epic about the building of a fictional cathedral in 12th Century England would be dull, then, my friend, you’d be very, very wrong!
What it’s about: The story is set in the period of the 12th Century known as “the Anarchy”, starting with the sinking of the White Ship in 1120, which created a power vacuum because it left Henry I without a (male) heir. On his death in 1135, Stephen of Blois usurped the throne because he didn’t want to accept Henry I’s daughter, the Empress Matilda, as Queen, and a period of lawlessness and civil war ensued. The story roughly ends around the murder of Thomas Beckett in 1170. That is the wider context but the story itself follows the lives of several villagers from the fictional village of Kingsbridge and the construction of a new cathedral that transforms the village into a thriving town.
Why I love it: This books plunges you into the ups and downs of village life and how precarious one’s position was in those times. One of the main characters starts off as the daughter of the local nobleman but his garrison is immediately overthrown in the story and she faces extreme hardship, going from riches to rags. Her story, about rebuilding her life and power is brilliant. There’s also thee monk who goes on to lead the construction of the cathedral and how he finds the money and deals with political rivalries in an unstable time, and, of course, the young stonemason who is heavily involved the build (and is in love with the fallen noblewoman) and whose story also takes you through developments in architecture of that time too. You really feel like a part of the town, and Ken Follett just does such an incredible job of immersing you in that world. It’s amazing to think that he was, prior to this book, principally a thriller writer.
Beyond the book: I’ve always loved visiting cathedrals and, standing inside their vastness, I’m just awed by the vision and craftsmanship that went into constructing such enormous buildings at a time when technology was (by our standards) extremely rudimentary. Some of the finest cathedrals are still hugely impressive, so to think that they were built nearly a thousand years ago, is hard to get my head around. My personal favourites (in the UK) include St. Davids Cathedral, in St. Davids, Pembrokeshire (the UK’s smallest city), Exeter Cathedral and Gloucester Cathedral. I’ve visited equally fabulous cathedrals on the continent, including Notre Dame in Paris (pre-burned roof), the Duomo in Florence and (from the outside) St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. I could talk about cathedrals all day so, needless to say, an epic book about the construction of one is right down my street, and it was an excellent birthday gift from my wife.