Finished: World Without End (Follett) Finally I read the 1000-plus page sequel to Pillars of the Earth and it was a really great book! :-) I couldn't possible write a recap of the book that spans 34 years in the lives of its many characters, but I can just list a few memorable things. Of course, the town of Kingsbridge with the cathedral built 200 years earlier by Tom Builder and his stepson, Jack, is a character all its own. The town is still thriving and the cathedral still busy with its active monastery that we so lovingly remember being run by Prior Phillip in Pillars. Now, in 1327, though, we still have just as many unsavory characters constantly manipulating circumstances for their own greed and making the lives of the more upstanding citizens an uphill battle! Another major character in the book...the bubonic plague which struck Europe in the 1300's. It is prevalent throughout the book and drives much of the story and reveals the true moral character of many of the people. The unsavory and, for the most part, despicable characters include: Joby of Wigleigh, the poor peasant man who sells his own teenage daughter for a cow, knowing she's going to be used by the horrible new owner as a prostitute for the outlaws running rampant in the forest; Prior Godwyn, the Prior at Kingsbridge Cathedral who is so out for his own glorification and advancement that he nearly has his own cousin hanged for witchcraft because she threatens his advancement...and who is so cowardly that when the plague strikes the town and all the nuns rally around to help the sick, Godwyn packs up all the monks AND all their treasures and charters and runs away to another town; Sub-prior Philemon, a thief since childhood, and a devious-minded man who comes up with most of the ideas that Godwyn implements; Ralph, a heartless young boy who purposely shoots an arrow through the heart of his friend's dog, who grows up to be an equally heartless Lord and then Earl who rapes, murders, and takes what he wants all his life until he's finally killed by his own son, who thankfully doesn't know he's Ralph's own son, while defending his mother who Ralph is about to force himself on yet again; Elfric, the builder who apprentices Merthin, the young boy with a knack for wood carving and design, who refuses to marry Elfric's daughter when he comes of age, infuriating Elfric and causing Elfric to keep Merthin out of the builder's guild for nearly the rest of his life; and Petranilla, Godwyn's mother who plants the seeds of ambition in Godwyn's head and is always there with cold-blooded advice about how Godwyn should get the better of his enemies no matter the cost. Whew! That's so many bad guys. There are even more, but too many to list. Now, on to the good guys and heroes and heroines: First there is Merthin...or I should say...first, there are Merthin and Caris. They meet as 11 year-olds and love each other for the rest of their lives! Merthin is the red-headed, one year older brother of the vicious Ralph. Merthin is not as good looking or charming as Ralph, but he is sensible and well-liked. He's devastated when he is sent to be a building apprentice while Ralph is sent to learn to be a knight...yet Merthin ends up being the great designer of the new bridge after it collapses, as well as a new tower for the cathedral, and several homes and buildings in Kingsbridge. He eventually becomes the alderman of the town in his later years and is highly loved and respected by all! He's also the direct descendant of the red-headed Jack Builder from Pillars. :-) Caris, though she loves Merthin all her life, doesn't believe that women must lead a conventional life of marrying and having children and being supported by men. She wants to be independent and make her own way, but at the same time she loves Merthin. She's very conflicted. She takes charge when the bridge collapses and is a natural organizer. She's also interested in learning the art of healing and becomes instrumental in handling the plague by implementing linen masks and the washing of hands. She has an uphill battle always, though, and on the morning that she is to marry Merthin (she finally said yes!), she is accused by the jealous Prior Godwyn (her own cousin!!) of heresy and about to be sentenced as a witch! The only saving grace is the Mother Prioress Cecilia who takes Caris in as a nun. The bishop agrees to this sentence saying she can never leave the church, though, or she will be hanged as her original sentence declares. Poor Caris and Merthin. :-( Anyway, Caris accepts her fate and won't even say goodbye to Merthin. Broken-hearted Merthin goes to study the architecture in Florence and comes back 10 years later. It is after that that the plague hits. As a matter of fact, it has already hit in Florence and killed Merthin's wife and in laws. Only Merthin, who miraculously survives the plague, and his young daughter, Lolla, are unaffected. ok, I'm starting to recap, lol. Let's see...other good people: Sir Thomas Langley is a knight at the beginning of the book that the 11 year old Merthin witnesses with a secret parchment. The knight shows him where he buries the parchment and tells Merthin if he tells anyone about it, they will both die. He also tells Merthin to dig it up from the secret spot and give it to a priest if he ever dies. Then, Thomas goes to seek sanctuary as a monk at Kingsbridge; Wulfric, the poor peasant boy who, at 16, looses his mother, father and older brother in the bridge collapse. He also happens to stand up to the nasty Ralph when Ralph gropes his then fiancee. Ralph never forgets it and makes Wulfric's life a living hell for the rest of his life...stripping him of his father's lands, blackmailing Wulfric's wife into having sex, nearly hanging Wulfric's son, etc.; Gwenda, Wulfric's wife and the poor peasant girl who was sold by her father for the cow. Gwenda is one tough lady and kills one outlaw to escape that fate and drowns the man that bought her when the bridge collapses! She's in love with Wulfric all her life and patiently helps him with his crops for years while he's in love with another woman until Wulfric realizes that he loves Gwenda after all. Of course, Gwenda is the one who Ralph forces to have sex and the one whose firstborn son is really Ralph's and not Wulfric's. Other characters that were good people: Caris' father, Edmund Wooler, the Prioress, Mother Cecilia, Madge and Mark Webber, the poor weaving family who Caris shows how to make the expensive red dye that becomes known as Kingsbridge Scarlett. They become wealthy off of the endeavor, but then Mark and their four children all perish from the plague. :-( Madge remains resilient, though, and years later remarries, has one more child, and becomes an important member of the town guild. There's so much more I could say, but it was over a thousand pages, lol. I will just say that through all the political, religious, and plague hardships, the town does prevail and thrive again. And, after years of unselfish service, Caris is eventually released from her vows and gets to marry Merthin and open her own hospital for the town. And, Merthin finally builds a new tower for the cathedral that is taller than any other tower in Europe! As for the bad guys....Ralph is finally run through with his own kind of violence, a sword and a dagger, by Gwenda's son protecting his mother. Godwyn succumbs to the plague after all...even though he ran from it...apparently one of the monks already had it and it wiped them all out. Gwenda finally stood up to Joby with a burning piece of wood and marred his face and subdued his maliciousness. Petranilla and Elfric both perished from the plague. And, Phillemon was finally outwitted, denied the advancement he so deviously sought after Godwyn died, and sent to a position far, far away. Oh...and the secret in the parchment? It's all about the murder of King Edward II by his wife, Queen Isabella so that her son Edward III can become king. If found, it would change everything! :-) I've had this book for so many years and just now got around to reading it. Pillars was a favorite of mine, and I don't know that this one quite lived up to that, but I did enjoy reading it. And...I hear Follett's writing another Kingsbridge book to be published in 2017! :-)