Beginning in 1558, it charts the star-crossed romance between Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald over half a century. The saga continues in the third novel, A Column of Fire. From that moment, their lives are bound together by love and revenge, as they confront the Black Death and the beginning of the hundred years war. The sequel, World Without End, is set two centuries later and follows the lives of four children who witness two men being killed the day after Halloween. Many of the book's most important plot elements would have been impossible in the later Middle Ages, when the Church did establish complete control and no marriage could be dissolved except by the Pope in person.Ken Follett's bestselling Kingsbridge Novels are loved around the world for their historical detail and epic storytelling. The story begins in The Pillars of the Earth, which centres on the struggles of Prior Phillip and his mason-turned-architect Tom as they attempt to build the greatest gothic cathedral in the medieval world. The Church frowned at these practices, but as yet was powerless to prevent them. A man could marry two women and sometimes even a woman could marry two men, and a man could at his discretion 'put away' his wife and marry someone else. Marriage in Saxon England, as depicted in the book, was a civic ceremony in which the Church had no part.

Wigelm: the younger brother of Wynstan and half-brother of Wilwulf.Īt the time in which the plot is set, the Catholic Church had not yet established control of marriage.

Bishop Wynstan: a greedy bishop obsessed with power, who uses his wit in order for his family to increase their wealth and social status.

He marries Ragna against the king's will after falling in love with her on a trip to Cherbourg.

Ealdorman Wilwulf (Also referred as Wilf): The older half-brother of Wynstan and Wigelm, and ealdorman of Shiring.

Edgar: The son of a boatbuilder that dreams of being a builder himself.Aldred: A young monk who wishes on making Shiring a center of learning by creating a vast library.Ragna: Daughter of Count Hubert of Cherbourg, travels to England after marrying Ealdorman Wilwulf of Shiring.Follett has said that he has chosen biblical quotes for the titles of all his Kingsbridge novels as feels that they have a more powerful and epic feeling.Ī series based on the book is in the works at Legendary Television and Range Media Partners. The book expands upon the history and founding of the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, and the construction of the bridge and cathedral there (and the origin of the town's name is explained). It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth set starting in 997 CE, and covering a period in the late Dark Ages and under the backdrop of Viking raids, through the year 1007 CE. The Evening and the Morning is a historical fiction novel by Welsh author Ken Follett.

Ken follett the evening and the morning