And it is the characters which carry the story, though of course we all want to know who did it, and we do find out by the end. But the story along the way is gripping and entertaining, with some real baddies, and a satisfying ending.
This is a very entertaining story that will hold almost anyone's attention. Yes, there are a couple of explicit sex scenes that might offend some people, but it seemed to me that they were an important part of the story. (If Mr. Follett threw them in gratuitously, then he fooled me.)
I have loaned this tape to several of my friends and EACH of them has told me on several occasions how much he or she enjoyed it. And I have enjoyed it at least three times, myself. My guess is that you will too.
After I was finished I wanted to return to find our more about the Pilasters.
The story opens with the mysterious drowning death of a student at a boy's school. Was it murder? This questions hangs for decades as Follett wends his way through the Victorian upper crust and its seedy underbelly, and ultimately--as you know it must--the answer has tremendous and exciting implications for the dueling families we've come to know.
Follett's ability to present a large cast of fully-fleshed and complex characters, who follow motivations that take hundreds of pages to define, is unparalleled. Never in his books do you have to say to yourself, "Oh yeah, right."
The scope of the novel is impressive. I call it sophisticated fiction. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
