WORLD WITHOUT END

I am behind because of this book. But hopefully will catch up in the next couple of weeks!

"World Without End" by Ken Follett



(INSIDE FLAP)

On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed.
As adults, their lives will be braided together by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day.

This is a remarkable book Mr. Follett has written. Why, because it is so detailed in history and he lets your imagination roam and visualize the whole book while you are reading. All four of the children, Gwenda, Ralph, Merthin, and Caris are all connected by blood, marriage, or friendship.
As they all grow into adulthood and go on with their lives, they are all still together. Caris and Merthin are in love but can't be together because of trouble with the church. Gwenda loves someone she can't have but does eventually get the guy. And Ralph gains his highest ambition of becoming the Earl of Shiring.
The one thing that binds them all together is the fact that they all witnessed the murder in the forest. As war and breaks out between England and France, Ralph goes to war with the king. Merthin leaves to travel the world. And then the plague comes home to Kingsbridge, wiping out almost the whole town. As the town begins to rebuild and grow, Gwenda, Ralph, Merthin, and Caris all come together for a final time and all coming back to the murders they saw in the forest.