We are finishing the last year of the first decade of the 21st century, a time when the internet has revolutionized our lives, yet economic uncertainty and wars in faraway lands prey on the mind. It is hauntingly similar to the beginning of the 20th century, just after the Industrial Revolution forever changed the way we work and live but the threat of war and poverty lurked just around the corner. Author Ken Follett explores this world in vivid, astonishing detail in Fall of Giants, the first installment in an epic "Century" trilogy. The book is available in most popular bookstores and on Amazon.com.
A Tale of Five Families
Ken Follett's strength as an author is in his ability to immerse the reader into whatever world he portrays. He accomplishes this through intimate portrayals of vividly drawn characters. Fall of Giants begins by exploring thirteen year old Billy Williams on his first day of work in the brutal coal mines of Wales. His sister, Ethel, works as a head maid in the sprawling mansion of Earl Fitzherbert, whose family owns the mines as well as several other commercial interests. Gradually, Follett introduces the other characters on other continents, such as Grigori and Lev Peshkov, hardscrabble Russian factory workers who fall in love with the same woman, Walter von Ulrich, a German military attache, and Gus Dewar, an idealistic young American who becomes an assistant to Woodrow Wilson.
A Touching and Heartrending Romantic Saga rather than a History Lesson
The romantic tension escalates quickly in Fall, when Lady Maud Fitzherbert, an outspoken voice for women's rights, falls in love with Walter von Ulrich and Earl Fitzherbert wanders into an affair with the beautiful and soulful Ethel. Over in Russia, brothers Grigori and Lev dream of leaving their country for a better life in America yet social upheaval and a young girl named Katerina complicate things. This is all played out against a backdrop of crumbling alliances between European nations and economic tension that would lead to a massive war.
Strong Women: A Ken Follett staple
Ken Follett's first commercially successful novel, Eye of the Needle, featured a young British woman who singlehandedly thwarts a German spy's communique that changes the course of the German military fortunes. All of his novels afterward have featured strong women characters and Fall of Giants offers Lady Maud Fitzherbert, Ethel Williams and the brash, sexy and hilarious Mildred Perkins. While the plot of Fall often follows the plight of British and German soldiers in the trenches, some of the most tense moments occur in the domestic world, for example when Lady Maud steals away to marry her forbidden lover, Walter.
Strengths of Fall of Giants Compared to other Historical Novels
Many broad historical epics become dry and boring because they read too much like, well, history. The struggles of the families in Follett's novel jump from the pages and a look at Ken Follett's background offers clues to how he accomplishes this. According to the Ken Follett website, his parents were devout, born-again Christians who would not allow him to watch movies or television. Instead, his mother told him stories for hours on end, of how the wars changed Europe, and his father, a tax collector educated him on the perennial struggles between the aristocracy and the working class. These lessons may have helped him breathe life into the characters and vistas he describes in his novels, when so much historical fiction often suffers from the heavy hand of research.
A Satisfying, Thrilling Read
People often celebrate two Christmases: the one they share with friends and family and the one they provide for themselves through gift cards they receive or in providing themselves with the presents they really want. The short, cold days of winter lend themselves well to a relaxing read before a warm fire and Fall of Giants offers a huge dose of literary satisfaction. Best of all, there's two more installments to come!
Jolene Twomey - Hello, and thank you for visiting my profile page. I look forward to a long association with Suite101 as a place to share my writing ...
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