Margery is betrothed instead to Bart, a Viscount and son of Swithin, the Earl of Shiring, a man as cruel and despotic as his forefathers. His mother Alice might be one of the more successful and influential merchants in the city but his hopes of marrying Margery Fitzgerald, the daughter of gentry, are as doomed as ever. When Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge from the Continent in a snowstorm in 1558, it seems as if medieval feudalism is alive and well in this prosperous market city. Sidenote: In looking up the background, I've also discovered that an English Armada also existed (after the Spanish one) and it was never told in school because as they say, the books are written by the victors but thank goodness for the wiki.Macmillan | 2017 (21 September) | 768p | Review copy | Buy the book The history should be in the background and not the forefront. The characters are easy to like or dislike but there's too much history in this historical fiction for me. Overall I liked it because Follett is a good storyteller and the writing is easy to read and follow. In between we are treated to stories of their family members and becomes a saga like the 2 previous books in the series. Willard is a force for good as he tries to avoid religious bloodshed whereas Aumand does everything he possibly can to rise up in power and politics including inciting religious bloodshed and enjoying it.Įach story could be its separate book but they are wound together. Spoilers/Summary: The story has 2 main characters: Ned Willard, an Englishman who becomes a spy for QE1 and Pierre Aumand, a Frenchman who becomes an advisor for the de Guise family.

In the past, I've really liked this story telling but this book is constrained by his having to write a lot of history into it, which took up too much of the book for me. It's a history of the end of Queen Mary's reign and QE1's reign wrapped up in some historical fiction.

I'm a big fan of Ken Follett but this isn't one of his greatest books. So I rate this 3.5 stars and maths tells me to round up. According to GR's rating system, 3 stars = I liked it and 4 stars = I really liked it.

A column of fire review