The Pillars of the Earth

A truly inspiring and humbling novel, Ken Follet successfully transports you back to a time where religion rules and perseverance and subordination are the key to survival. This book is a page turner, and at over 1000 pages long it still seems to fly by and is all over too soon. It follows the story of Tom Builder a master mason and the trials of his family as they follow his dream of building a great Cathedral in 12th Century Britain. Meeting many many characters along the way, not least the Prior Phillip who has his own story to tell and whose morality and dedication to the priory he serves is both admirable and frustrating in equal measures.