A Column of Fire

This third volume in Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" series takes place in the 16th century, approximately 200 years after the events of World Without End. Though it opens in the English town of Kingsbridge, where the first two books took place, Follett takes advantage of the period's zest for exploration and situates his cast of thousands all over the known world; from England to France, Spain, and beyond. Following the plague years, it was a time of great upheaval in Europe as a middle class began to rise and people became disenchanted with both the ruling class and the church. Then came the Protestant Reformation. At the heart of this great novel is Ned Willard, who wants desperately to marry Margery Fitzgerald, but their religious differences force the pragmatic Ned, who is Catholic, to throw his lot in with the young Queen Elizabeth while Margery risks her life to help spread the Protestant faith. Several climactic scenes—including a truly horrific execution and massacres in the streets of Paris—dramatize the vast social and religious divide of the era.