Since Pillars of the Earth is one of my all-time favorite novels, I was thrilled that 20 years later Ken Follett had written a sequel entitled World Without End. As he did in Pillars of the Earth, Follett convincingly recreates a medieval world and peoples it with complex and memorable characters. As in all good historical fiction, I learned how people lived and what they believed about their world and themselves. This is historical fiction at its finest.

Set in Kingsbridge, the fictional village created for Pillars of the Earth , the three main characters meet as children when they are playing in the woods and witness a deadly fight between a knight and several men who were trying to kill him. This incident and its mysterious and sinister aftermath resonate throughout the rest of World Without End and affect these characters and their village throughout their lives. What really happened that day in the woods and why is a mystery that isn’t solved until the last pages of the book. In fact, Follett’s fictional mystery is based on a real historical mystery, the solution of which historians are still debating today. This is a well-researched and fascinating book and an extremely satisfying read.

--Recommended by staffer Ellen J.

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