World Without End by Ken Follett ***1/2

In this sequel to his bestselling novel “The Pillars of the Earth” Ken Follett explores a time period in Medieval English history from 1327 – 1361, which is two centuries after the original novel. Maintaining the location of Kingsbridge where the original cathedral was constructed the novel revolves around four primary characters that are introduced as children in the opening pages. The youngsters inadvertently witness a murder of two men-at-arms and the wounding of a king’s knight. In the process one of the youngsters comes to the aid of the knight and helps him bury a document and swears to keep its whereabouts a secret unless the knight is killed.

The next 1000 pages makes little reference to the opening incident but chronicles the lives of the four youngster; a peasant girl, a non-believer who wants to become a doctor but ends up becoming a nun, a heartless ruffian who eventually becomes a knight and later a nobleman, and finally, a gifted carpenter, engineer, inventor, and architect. Their lives are ensnared in the realities of the medieval world in this fundamental battle of “good” vs. “evil”. The evil in this case includes the feudal system, the English class system, the demarcation between the rich and the poor, the exploitation of the peasants, the battle between church and state, the corruption of the clergy, the primitive nature of the prevailing legal system, the naivety of medical practice and the plague.

For 900 pages evil continuously outmanoeuvres the good. Eventually in the righteousness prevails, including the importance of the hidden document in chapter one, evil succumbs, and we can all sleep better knowing that we didn’t have to live in the Middle Ages