Rarely do you pick up a book that grabs your attention from page one and holds it until the very last word of the very last page. As hard as it is to believe, The Pillars of the Earth, at a little more than 1,000 pages, does just that. It’s the story of a builder who dreams of building the greatest cathedral in England, the prior of a church, and the backhanded dealings of the clergy trying to win favor with the ruthless English nobility that rules their lives. It’s set in 1100 AD, in a time where peasants were property of the Lords and laws were being shaped to suit the whims of masters. Where hardship and starvation were part of life, where superstitions ran deep, and religion was a calling feared by many.

Colin