The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken FollettA MASON WITH A DREAM1135 and civil war, famine and religious strife abound. With his family on the verge of starvation, mason Tom Builder dreams of the day that he can use his talents to create and build a cathedral like no other. A MONK WITH A BURNING MISSIONPhilip, prior of Kingsbridge, is resourceful, but with money scarce he knows that for his town to survive it must find a way to thrive, and so he makes the decision to build within it the

Because a better world can only be built at scale

a bleakly resonant study of the fraudulent bargains that make up an identity

a sister mourns her invisible brother whom only she can still see

This book tries to piece together their story from the limited sources that are available from an age where historical sources were few and

‘The Gift of Magi’ by O Henry

it has become highly influential in the Western world for its psychological insights into the processes of death and dying - and what they can teach us about the ways in which we live our lives

As they listen

I will hurt no one in my thoughts or in my actions

where the "Kar" or Snow blizzard is taking over the daily life of the residents

women struggling to speak out in a world that refuses to listen to them

Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution

a respectable man is driven to extremes by guilt over his wife's death