Title: Not Follett's best
Product review: I recently reread the book for a book club and, after six hundred or so pages, just couldn't take anymore. The book has not held up well. The characters are very one-dimensional, the melodrama is redundant and Follett passed up several opportunities to be far more interesting. The plotting is not always organic and often very predictable. For example, Ellen begins as a wild and mezmerizing spirit, but after a quick roll in the hay with Tom Builder, becomes a dull domestic character. William Hamleigh repeatedly attacks Kingsbridge. Bishop Waleran repeatedly plots revenge against Philip. Anything that could possibly go wrong here does. Ellen and Aliena are pretty much the same character, as are Alfred and William Hamleigh. This period of history is fascinating, but there are much better tellings of the tale out there.
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