The Pillars of the Earth: A Novel (Kingsbridge Book 1)

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known, and Tom, the mason who becomes his architect. The narrative also follows Lady Aliena, a beautiful and elusive woman haunted by a secret shame, and depicts a struggle between good and evil that pits church against state and brother against brother. Set in twelfth-century England, this historical epic spans themes of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power. The novel begins where its prequel, The Evening and the Morning, ended.