A Column of Fire – Ken Follett – Viking HC $36.00 – 9780525954972 – Summer 2017
This is the third book in the saga of Kingsbridge, the fictional city to which we were introduced in Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. By now England is awash in the wake of the death of Henry VIII and civil war looms. Catholic and Protestant are each other’s throats with burnings, hangings and banishment common occurrences. Veering from the persecution of one faith to revilement of the other as sovereigns change and theological imperatives shift, the political and social climate is dangerous and confusing, if not downright deadly.
“Bloody Mary” Tudor is on the throne, Protestants are hunted and killed, and Spain and France both have their fingers on the buttons that determine England’s fate. But Mary is old, ill and soon to relinquish the reins of power: who will step into the void? Mary Stuart is in France preparing to marry into Gallic royalty and Elizabeth Tudor, the illegitimate daughter of Henry anticipates her ascension to a disputed throne. It is a dark and tangled era of British history.
Ned Willard, descendant of the builders of Kingsbridge and a Protestant faces family ruin at the hands of Catholic neighbors who hunger for the power money and status provide. But when Elizabeth takes the throne, an eventuality unexpected and unwelcome to some, his prospects brighten. He is encouraged by Elizabeth’s avowed policy of tolerance of all faiths, stating that no Englishman should be killed for his beliefs. This, sadly, is not how things fall out. Ned becomes an assistant to Sir Francis Walsingham, the first known true spymaster. What ensues is a tale worthy of a modern espionage novel, with the added tension that attends brutal retribution for treachery to which even Cold War players seldom resorted. Modern torture methods are perhaps even less revolting than those used in the sixteenth century.
With his trademark skill for writing compelling fiction and a keen eye for historical detail, Follett has given us a work fully worthy of the promise of the first two in the series. Compelling is, in my opinion, an apt description for the effect of the author’s efforts on the reader. The nine-hundred-and-ninth page comes sooner than one might expect. There’s little pause and no dawdling anywhere in this narrative, and the characters are all satisfying noble, imperfect, vile and pathetic by turns as the tale unfolds. It is a rich and full reading experience and is recommended highly.
Shelf Talker: Third in the series of epics of Kingsbridge, England and the turbulent times surrounding the of Henry VII and Elizabeth I, this fast-moving and gratifyingly detailed novel of dark and glorious times in the history of British religion and politics is, quite literally, a page-turner. Satisfaction guaranteed.