First 2026 5⭐️: The Pillars of the Earth

I got my first 5⭐️ of 2026 in the most unlikely book. Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the construction of Kingsbridge Cathedral in 1100s England and the intertwined stories of the men and women connected to it. This story has 3 distinct layers: the overall politics of England, the politics of the Church, and the lives of those in and around Kingsbridge. While there is a lot of prose about how the cathedral is built, the materials, and how to pay for it, the story is more expansive than that. The story focuses on who becomes king when there is no heir, how a cathedral gets built, and the everyday people caught in power plays.

Good and evil are simplistic, but it works. I knew exactly who to hate, and by the end of the book, I was rooting for the bad guys to get some karma. Follett used to write thrillers, and it shows. He builds the tension, drops some history, and then cranks the tension up again. I do think some of the masonry details drag, but those long descriptive stretches always build to something urgent. 

I don't need 100% accuracy in my historical fiction. I need changes to make sense within the story, and I feel Follett does that masterfully. I loved the complexity of Phillip, an ambitious monk who tries to rein in those instincts with humility. I liked seeing him struggle to be both stubborn and meek at once. Jack and Aliena's journeys are individually littered with pain and disappointment, and I wanted something good to happen for them. Martha was underutilized because she was around, but there was no payoff or closure with her story. There was a point in the story where a character popped back up and made me audibly gasp. 

There is rape and brutality in this book, but I did not feel as if it was gratuitous. Follett does not pretty up the history of women's lives. They were pawns used for control, silenced, and punished. However, I believe Follett did a good job of highlighting ways women found agency even in a world that devalued them. If slow burns grate you, or 12th-century violence doesn't work for you, or you must have textbook accuracy, this is not for you. But if you enjoy epic stories with emotional payoff, thrilling writing, and lives across decades. 

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