Edgar, an apprentice shipbuilder, experiences his first Viking raid and loses the great love of his life along with his father. Through his mother’s determination, the family moves to a marshy farm in unwelcoming Dreng’s Ferry. Meanwhile, in Normandy, Ragna is the daughter of a count with ancestral ties to the Vikings and desires to be an equal with her future husband instead of another pretty tapestry. She falls in love with an English earl and is whisked away from the comforts of Normandy for Viking-ravaged England and settles in Dreng’s Ferry. Brother Aldred finds his way to Dreng’s Ferry and vows to rid the clergy of corruption. These three will be the ones to transform Dreng’s Ferry into the town of Kingsbridge.
The Evening and the Morning is the fourth time that Ken Follett has revisited his fictional city. He makes sure that the reader knows every detail of Kingsbridge, no matter how many centuries pass between each of the novels. Church politics and local power struggles are at the forefront of his series and shape the city’s architecture as much as the characters do. Edgar, Ragna, and Aldred had me feeling ecstatic for their little victories and absolutely frustrated when a new, and sometimes surprising, obstacle presents itself to derail the hopes of our protagonists.
The Kingsbridge series is unique in that you can start with any novel in the series and understand what’s going on without reading any of the other novels, but each novel features Kingsbridge in a different era. In this case, the prequel is the rough origins for the city itself and quote a fascinating beginning that makes the 900 plus pages pass so quickly. However, I do have to warn that like all the novels in the series there is violence, particularly sexual assault against women, which is completely accurate to the time. I recommend this book to fans of the series and to newcomers looking for a novel set in the medieval period with well-realized characters.
Ashley
Collection Support Aide
Post Road Library
#WeKnowBooks
3 comments:
I loved The Pillars of the Earth
I love your review, Ashley! I'll have to add this to my TBR list!
Ashley, your review is really good and made me want to read this series! Those years when Vikings and Christians were living in the same area was an interesting time.
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