The Pillars of the Earth is a historical fiction novel from Ken Follett published in 1989 that has become part of a lengthy series of novels. For my reviews of other recent historical fiction novels, see:

Freshwater Road, by Denise Nicholas

A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende

This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger

The Impossible Girl, by Lydia Kang

This is a book that isn’t exactly hot off the press. It came out 31 years ago but has become somewhat of a classic in the eyes of many. The setting is 12th century England.

It is also a novel that defies a few conventions. To start with, there isn’t a true main character. The story spans three generations, so most of the characters you meet when the book begins don’t make it to the end. The book also has reasonably graphic sex and rape scenes, especially for something written in the 1980s.

Evaluating The Pillars of the Earth

I found The Pillars of the Earth predictable in some ways but engrossing in others. On the predictable side, the story starts with a master craftsman whose goal is to build a cathedral. So, given the era, you know the story will end up with a Gothic cathedral at some point. The only question is how.

Likewise, with the setbacks the characters experience throughout. Whenever things start going well for one of the characters, a devastating setback can’t be far away. Usually they’re dumped back on their butts by the next chapter. In a way, this is good writing because the characters have a reason to keep striving. They must grow and change with the circumstances. It is, however, rather predictable once you see the pattern. Again, the only question how the setback will go down, and whether man or nature will be responsible this time.

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The Characters of The Pillars of the Earth

The characters, however, were a strength of the story for me. The evil characters were very evil. William Hamleigh, his ugly mother, and Bishop Waleran Bigod kept coming back with new schemes to dish out trouble for the good guys. William, especially, rapes and pillages his way (literally) to irredeemable infamy. The only thing I didn’t care for with the villains is that all are villains for the same reason—greed and ambition. Which is normal for antagonists, I suppose, but at least one could have had another motivation.

The part I enjoyed most was that the good guys, although good, were not perfect. The reader loves to cheer for Prior Phillip, who solves every problem with a plan that doesn’t involve violence. Yet even Phillip is hardheaded and stubborn much of the time. Likewise, with the other protagonists.

Conclusions

On the whole I enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth quite a bit. The story was engaging (with my above caveats) and the characters felt compelling. I’m no specialist in medieval English history, so I won’t speculate on whether every detail was perfect, historically speaking.

I can think of only two reasons not to try this book if one is a fan of the era and of historical fiction. One, and it’s a big one, is that the book is long. Really long. The paperback clocks in at around 1,000 pages. (It’s not in the same league as The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which I’ve also read, but it’s long.) If it had been me, I’d probably have divided the book into two separate books, at least. Perhaps even three. The other reason is that readers with sexual abuse triggers should proceed with caution. I think the book was true to its time period in this respect, but that doesn’t mean people want to read about it.

In all, I’m scoring this book 9 for 10. There’s a lot to like, and only a few things not to like. Expecting an author to write 1,000 pages of perfection is probably unrealistic, anyway.

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