Have I mentioned that I like historical fiction? I really, really like historical fiction. Ken Follett can be relied on to write some pretty good historical fiction novels, whether it is the Kingsbridge series or the Century Trilogy. The Evening and the Morning is part of the Kingsbridge series, which started with The Pillars of the Earth. The Pillars of the Earth is set in twelfth-century England in a town called Kingsbridge. It is about a prior who wants to build the greatest cathedral the world has ever known, so yes, religion plays an important role in the Kingsbridge novels. There are two sequels to The Pillars of the Earth: the first one is called World Without End and it is also set in Kingsbridge but at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Some of the characters in World Without End are descendants of the characters in The Pillars of the Earth. The second sequel is called A Column of Fire and is set in the sixteenth century. The Evening and the Morning is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth. It is set at the beginning of the eleventh century and is about how the town of Kingsbridge was founded. These novels could each be read on their own or in any order, but I do highly recommend you read all of them if you like historical fiction.

As good as the Kingsbridge series is, though, the novels are rather formulaic in plot and characters. There is always a humble, intelligent craftsman who does good and helps other people; a strong, beautiful woman who behaves unconventionally of what is expected of women at the time; a brutal pig of a nobleman who runs around killing people and raping women; and a villain that is always a member of the Catholic church (ha ha). The Evening and the Morning is no exception to this formula. The humble, intelligent craftsman is Edgar, a boatbuilder whose family loses everything when Vikings attack and burn down his village and kill his father. He and the surviving members of his family end up in a small village called Dreng’s Ferry where they are given land to farm. Edgar, being intelligent as he is, teaches himself to build all kinds of things other than boats.

The strong, beautiful woman is Lady Ragna, the daughter of a Norman count who falls in love with the ealdorman of Shiring, Wilwulf, and goes to England to marry him. Wilwulf is not a horrible person and seems to respect Ragna, although not enough to stop sleeping with other women after they are married. Wilwulf’s brothers, on the other hand, are just awful. Wigelm is the pig who rapes women and is a drunk and an idiot to boot. Wynstan is a bishop of the Catholic church and is the main villain of the novel. He is a complete snake who conspires against even his own brother. Another major character is a monk named Aldred who becomes good friends with both Edgar and Ragna. He dreams of creating an abbey that will become a center of learning and scholarship. I guess he is there to prove that not all religious people are awful.

Dreng’s Ferry is part of Shiring, so all the characters’ paths cross at some point in the novel. Edgar and Ragna inevitably fall in love, but of course a million bad things happen to keep them apart. Seriously, the Kingsbridge novels are stressful to read with all the bad things that happen to the good characters!! The villains are so manipulative, and they get away with so much almost until the very end of the novel, but at least their comeuppance is always worth the wait. Characters like Wynstan represent the greed and licentiousness that can be found even among the leaders of the Church. Their hearts are not with God and knowing that there really are people like Wynstan that hold prominent places in the clergy makes me not want to be involved in any religion.

The novels of the Kingsbridge series are dense reads (seriously, they are thick and heavy books) but they are worth every moment you will spend on them. There is so much humanity in each novel and they are exceptionally interesting in their depiction of our past, even if they prove that not much has changed today.