My first read of 2025, and it was a doozy!

The Setup: The Pillars of the Earth is a historical epic that transports readers to 12th-century England, weaving a tale of ambition, love, and power against the backdrop of a small town's quest to build a grandiose cathedral. At the story's heart are the lives of richly drawn characters, including Tom Builder, the visionary mason; Aliena, a noblewoman determined to reclaim her family's honor; Prior Phillip, an idealistic and pious monk; and the ruthless William Hamleigh, whose hunger for dominance and power drives much of the conflict.

The story is meticulously detailed, immersing readers in the construction of this magnificent cathedral. However, at its core, this is a gripping novel intersecting the era's political intrigue, social upheavals, and religious tensions. The book's coupling between architecture and the struggle to create beauty and the exploration of humanity's decency (or indecency), resilience, and creativity were beautifully woven into a captivating narrative.

While I felt the novel's pacing was slow, it was, in fact, deliberate, and Follett took care to build a sweeping, multi-generational saga. While its length and brutality were daunting and challenging, this novel did evoke deep emotional investment and transported readers to a vividly realized medieval world.

What I Loved: First and foremost, I cannot imagine how many hours Follett spent researching for this book. The novel had an evident intellect element - figuring out how to build in the 1100s and documenting that on the page. Follett wove physics, mathematics, and artistry into the narrative but in a way likely indicative of the people in the 12th century. Hats off to you, Follett; that was an incredible touch. While some may think this aspect was too detailed (it did go on sometimes), I think it added a beautiful touch to the story, and I couldn't help but be incredibly intrigued and informed.

I reviewed this book well because I absolutely loved how Follett expressed the true chaos of the royal court and religion during this time. Candidly, there was a bit of underlying satire here, probably intentional, but maybe not. We had multiple characters driven by power and greed but think of themselves as doing the "good work" or, in many cases, "god's work." It described - not on the pages, but written between the lines - that our history, our literal buildings, including cathedrals, were built with treachery, corruption, and violence. Those evils were embedded in the mortar and the stones. I don't believe this book was about a cathedral; I think this book was about humans. Follett expertly described hypocrisy and greed while providing unreliable narrators to showcase the pride and excuses many humans make for doing unthinkable (or maybe just wrong) things. Follett was trying to answer the question: will good always prevail? But, then nuanced it with what is even considered "good?"

The novel completely scratched my philosophical itch. Thinking critically about each character and their motivations and actions, you could see philosophy sprouting from their motives. I loved it. Additionally, I simply loved the writing of most characters - they were nuanced, complicated, and flawed. Tom Builder was a man who wanted to provide for his family but maybe forgot about parenting along the way. Prior Phillip was undoubtedly compassionate and godly, but his pride and search for the "good" led him to play the corrupt political game. Jack was determined, loving, and caring but became hot-tempered and didn't necessarily make all the right choices all the time. Overall, the main characters had depth, and you, the reader, couldn't help but be transported in their time. Lastly - and I didn't know whether to put this in what I loved (or not) - Follett officially wrote the most hated character I've ever read about: William Hamleigh, a true villain.

Follett's writing wasn't fluffy, but it was poignant and sharp. I was utterly engrossed in the story and needed to figure out what happened next. Overall, I found this book well done, and I would recommend it for a read (check triggers, please!) for those who are looking for a historical take on the building of a cathedral, but more importantly, for the intense epic about humans and their strategy and drive.

What Missed the Mark: Bear with me as I discuss something that may not have been that exposed in 1989 when this book was first written, but I can't help but surface it now. Follett had the case of the "let's write 'feminist' women" without really understanding what that means. I'll give it to Follett: he tried. He incorporated one main character and one side character in the novel who defied the 12th century's female norms; on the surface, both were quite powerful. Aliena, our main female character, was nuanced, and I saw where he was going. However, unlike Tom Builder, Prior Phillip, and Jack, she felt less dimensional - all the women in the novel did, really. The women's choices seemed abrupt and odd, defying some of their original character development. Then, there were mentions of all their physical descriptions - beautiful (of course), and they always had big breasts (of course), and their bodies weren't the same after kids (of course). Thankfully, Follett added more than that to these characters. Still, he talked about their bodies and emotional, abrupt nature multiple times, which was annoying as a female reader. Additionally, Follett, I promise you that a woman will not climax from intercourse "over and over and over" again on her first time. Thanks, nice try!

I will also say rape and sexual violence were used too frequently here. I counted five rapes and a plethora of other sexual harassment and assault scenes. I wholeheartedly believe that rape can be written about - it's, unfortunately, and regrettably, something that people can relate to. However, writing about it has to be done carefully and meticulously. Back in 1989, I doubt they had those reviewers to help writers capture something that they didn't necessarily go through themselves, but I don't think we needed all of these rapes, most done by one person, to explain to me again why he was an awful character. We got that with the one (and plenty of other reasons why he was evil). While writing about this was likely realistic for the time (ugh), I don't believe all of them added to the story, and honestly, it made me want to look away. I am wary of men writing about a bunch rapes like this, honestly, but that's a whole different subject I won't get into here. While I was satisfied with how everything turned out, my dream for revenge for these rapes would have been different. I won't get into that aspect because I'll spoil things, and I would want to put trigger warnings on that discussion. However, overall, I think it managed to be ok, although it wasn't perfect, which I think needs to be close to perfect, if not perfect, if you add sexual violence like that into the narrative.

It was long, and near the end, I was like, how can the same thing continue to happen repeatedly? But everything Follett did was for a reason (other than maybe all the rapes), so I didn't let that sway my review too much.

I genuinely think this novel was very well done, minus a few flaws I fear were byproducts of the time (which I still think we should call out). Books in 1989 didn't come with trigger warnings, and this book needs a few different ones, so please check them out and stay safe out there. However, I think this book is worth a read to critique 12th-century power structures that just maybe haven't necessarily gone away, even roughly 900 years later.