About:
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett is a prequel to his best seller The Pillars of the Earth, and the 4th book in the Kingsbridge series. Mr. Follett has written over 35 books, and sold millions of copies in 40 languages around the world.
- 928 pages
- Publisher : Viking
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 0525954988
My rating for The Evening and the Morning – 5
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Thoughts:
The story takes place about a hundred years before The Pillars of the Earth, in the Dark Ages. The world is slowly changing; however, every day is a struggle to survive, eat, or even make it to bed in the evening unhurt.
I enjoy this series especially because of the history and the details of how they used to build tremendous buildings without power tools or sophisticated computers. The sex and violence aspects of the story are fine but are sometimes just cringy.
The star of the series is not a human, but a place. Kingsbridge has not yet come into existence. The river, a small church, and a village are there but it hasn’t become the center of the area is it will be.
Mr. Follett shows how difficult life was, especially for women whose life expectancy was short, and if it wasn’t they were usually exploited. Poor people didn’t have it easy either, many chose to offer themselves as slaves just so they’d be able to eat.
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett follows the familiar pattern of the Kingsbridge books. In pre-industrial England, a bunch of characters from different classes go through their daily struggles and somehow get involved in each other’s lives. These characters are always the same, a clever but poor builder, a brute fighter, an enterprising woman, and the clergy, both good and bad.
But I love it, the formula works and I eagerly read all 900 pages.
Synopsis:
Edgar, a boatmaker has to flee the town of Combe which was raided by Vikings, killing the love of his life. Edgar, his brothers, and his mother end up in Dreng’s Ferry, renting a small farm.
Ragna, a Norman noblewoman marries the Ealdorman of shiring, which rules Dreng’s Ferry. She eventually befriends Edgar who is not afraid to take fight against cruelty and injustice despite his low class status.
Buy The Evening and the Morning from Amazon.com*
More Books by Ken Follett*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I bought this book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
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