The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

bold.
contemptible.
triumphant.

I knew there was something special about this book when I started bawling like a baby after just a few short chapters. Ken Follett masterfully develops characters and entwines their lives in a way that is striking and full of raw human emotion. His readers experience terror, trepidation, peace, and every victory--big and small--alongside companionable protagonists and formidable foes.

This story is told in third person, limited-omniscient, so you gain a true sense of each individuals character—and there are many. I'm not going to lie; it took me the first five hundred pages to acclimate to Follett's writing style and the plethora of important characters in the plot, but it was all downhill from there. I found that I couldn't get enough--eat, read. sleep, read. kids, read. classes, read. and repeat.

Follett proves there is an artwork to creating characters that you feel you are psychically and invariably connected to. There are villains that you love to hate, yet for whom you feel a deep sense of pity and share their regret in the end. There are also people like you and I, who strive to make good choices in their lives, yet they suffer unspeakable acts and face ostensibly insurmountable challenges.

This novel is brimming with the dark and dreary side of humanity, and likewise, it glistens with the light of hope; for one cannot exist without the other, as they are complimentary parts of the whole.

5 out of 5 stars

I will read the sequel.