Four and a half millennia ago, neighboring tribes in prehistoric southwest England decided to construct one of the most iconic monuments of all time. Without the aid of pulleys or wheels, this nascent culture figured out how to transport massive stones, each weighing 2 to 30 tons, over as many as 150 miles of rough terrain to create the site known as Stonehenge.
These sandstone blocks were aligned explicitly to solar and lunar events, particularly the summer solstice, leading historians to believe it served as an astronomical observatory. Whoever they were, Stonehenge proved these people had an advanced understanding of celestial patterns. The construction itself indicated the existence of an extraordinary social organization, capable of long-term planning, collaboration, and resource mobilization.
But who were they? How did they do it? Well, Ken Follett has tried to answer these questions.
Follett’s Love of History
Follett evidently loves looking to the past for inspiration. He started as a successful thriller writer. His breakout novel, “Eye of the Needle” (1978), was a suspenseful World War II spy story that established him as a major name in the genre. Through the 1980s, several fast-paced thrillers followed, including “Triple,” “The Key to Rebecca,” and “The Man from St. Petersburg.”However, in 1989, Follett gambled on a new idea with “The Pillars of the Earth.” This sweeping historical novel was set in 12th-century England and centered on the construction of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. “Pillars” was a significant departure from his earlier style, focusing more on character development, historical detail, and moral complexity.
Fans of Follett’s thrillers weren’t keen on the idea at first, but the book quickly became one of his most beloved and enduring works. Its success led him to write sequels such as “World Without End,” “A Column of Fire,” and their prequel “The Evening and the Morning,” as well as other historical sagas.
Herders, Farmers, and Woodsmen
Set around 2500 B.C. on the Great Plain of what will become southern Britain, “Circle of Days” follows the intertwined lives of several characters whose fates converge in the dream of building a lasting monument in stone.Seft, a gifted teenage flint miner, is desperate to escape from his brutal family life and yearns for a better future. He’s infatuated with a pretty neighboring girl named Neen, whose family of herders is close-knit and relatively well off. Neen’s mother, Ani, is mourning her husband, who was trampled by a “maddened” cow. She’s open to the idea of Neen pairing off with Seft and hopes all her children will settle down and produce grandchildren for her soon.
But Neen’s sister, Joia, has greater ambitions beyond the herding life. After secretly witnessing the morning ritual of the priestesses (whom Follett chose as the religious leaders of the tribe), Joia wants to join their ranks. She’s especially interested in the homosexuality common among the priestesses.
When the existing wooden monument is destroyed, Joia and Seft put their heads together. They conceive of rebuilding it in stone, believing such a structure would unite the tribes. Inevitably, competing interests emerge. Farmers, herders, and woodlanders clash over scarce resources. Troon, a powerful tribal leader, becomes a violent antagonist.
As drought and mistrust mount, Joia and Seft must marshal political alliances, physical labor, and spiritual belief to bring their stone circle vision into being.
A Crude Build
On the positive side, “Circle of Days” brings to life a period of time that is so different from most historical novels, it’s almost science fiction or fantasy. Follett renders the unfamiliar landscapes and the rough culture quite effectively, not surprising, considering his immense talent. The prose is direct and unadorned, if a little prosaic, but it works well as a reflection of the social and physical environment.However, there are two significant problems with “Circle of Days.” One is that there’s very little character development or depth. The good guys are simply good, and the baddies are terrible people, although how they got this way isn’t fully explained, and nobody really changes throughout.
The second, much bigger frustration, is that it takes ages for the actual construction of Stonehenge to begin. Follett spends too much time creating tribal drama and personal conflicts. This is perhaps a way to set the stage for the big show. Yet, almost two-thirds of the book is over before they even get started.
In the marvelous “Pillars of the Earth,” the cathedral was arguably the main character; its constant presence drove the story forward at almost every moment. Of course, there is a wealth of research available on the medieval era.
When talking about his research for “Circle of Days,” Follett admits there weren’t many hard facts to utilize. Archeologists and historians simply don’t know very much about Neolithic cultures. Instead, he drew upon his personal speculation.
The results, unfortunately, are disappointingly thin, especially when compared to his previous works.
