The Evening and the Morning

 I just finished reading Ken Follett's The Evening and the Morning (#944), the prequel to one of my all time favorite books, The Pillars of the Earth.  It lived up to and even exceeded my expectations.  In the large print edition, it clocks in at almost a thousand pages (and don't drop this weighty tome on your foot!), but time just sped by while I was absorbed in its pages.  I hated to see this book come to an end.  Of course, the good thing is that I know this story does go on.

Set in the ten years between 997 CE and 1007 CE, the story centers around three main characters; Edgar, son of a boatbuilder in the coastal city of Combe, England, destroyed in a Viking raid; Ragna, the daughter of Count Hubert of Cherbourg; and Aldred, a monk exiled from his chosen priory of Glastonbury to the lesser priory of Shiring.  All three of them have in common a relationship to a trio of powerful brothers who run Southwestern England for their own gain, ignoring the wishes of King Ethelred.  Wilwulf is the ealdorman who holds the political power and marries the beautiful Ragna; Wigelm is his brutal half-brother and reeve of Combe; and Wynstan, the evil genius of the family, is the Bishop of Shiring, so both secular and ecclesiastical power rest in their hands.

Watching these six as their lives intersect, and as they maneuver for power is like following the pattern of an intricate dance, forwards and backwards.  Here are strong characters to root for, and villains to root against.  There's plenty of action and emotion here, too.  It's utterly enthralling and not to be missed.