Recommendations based on The Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. World Without End

    by Ken Follett
    Epic tale of love and war, tracing the lives of two families over centuries.

    The novel begins in the fictional city of Kingsbridge, England in the year 1327 . Four children - Merthin, Caris, Gwenda, and Merthin's brother Ralph - head into the woods on All Hallows Day . ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Fall of Giants

    by Ken Follett
    Epic historical fiction recounting the tumultuous events of World War I and its aftermath.

    The novel begins with the thirteen-year-old Billy Williams, nicknamed 'Billy With Jesus', going to work his first day in the coal mine underneath the fictional Welsh town of Aberowen in 1911. Three ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Winter of the World

    by Ken Follett
    Epic saga of war, family, and love during the tumultuous times of the 20th century.

    The story follows characters from Germany , Britain , the United States and the Soviet Union , who become linked by events leading to World War II , and continues through the war and its immediate ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Kitchen House

    by Kathleen Grissom
    A young Irish girl is taken in by a plantation family in Virginia and becomes entangled in the lives of the slaves who work there.

    When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship ... (Goodreads)

  5. The Name of the Rose

    by Umberto Eco
    A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.

    In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)

  6. East of Eden

    by John Steinbeck
    Exploration of the timeless struggle between good and evil, set against a backdrop of a family saga.

    In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas ... (Goodreads)

  7. And the Mountains Echoed

    by Khaled Hosseini
    Interconnected stories of family and love, tracing the consequences of decisions made throughout life.

    The novel opens in the year 1952. Saboor, an impoverished farmer from the fictional village of Shadbagh, decides to sell his three-year-old daughter Pari to a wealthy, childless couple in Kabul. ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Other Boleyn Girl

    by Philippa Gregory
    A historical fiction recounting the rivalry between two sisters vying for the love of King Henry VIII.

    In 1521 England, Queen Catherine of Aragon's failure to provide King Henry VIII a male heir has strained their marriage. Thomas Boleyn and his brother-in-law Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, plan ... (Wikipedia)

  9. Atlas Shrugged

    by Ayn Rand
    A tale of a dystopian future where the strongest minds take control of society.

    This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, ... (Goodreads)

  10. The Fountainhead

    by Ayn Rand
    A story of a brilliant architect who refuses to conform to the establishment, challenging the status quo.

    In early 1922, Howard Roark is expelled from the architecture department of the Stanton Institute of Technology because he has not adhered to the school's preference for historical convention in ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Cold Mountain

    by Charles Frazier
    A Confederate soldier's homecoming journey, filled with danger and adventure.

    The novel opens in a Confederate military hospital near Raleigh, North Carolina , where Inman is recovering from battle wounds during the American Civil War . The soldier is tired of fighting for a ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Cutting for Stone

    by Abraham Verghese
    A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.

    The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)

  13. 11/22/63

    by Stephen King
    A time-traveler attempts to prevent the assassination of JFK.

    Jake Epping is a recently divorced high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine , earning extra money teaching a GED class. Epping gives an assignment to his adult students, asking them to ... (Wikipedia)

  14. The Light Between Oceans

    by M.L. Stedman
    A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.

    Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)

  15. A Prayer for Owen Meany

    by John Irving
    A boy's search for faith, set against a backdrop of unlikely events.

    The story is narrated by John Wheelwright, a former citizen of New Hampshire who has become a voluntary expatriate from the United States, having settled in Toronto , Ontario , Canada and taken on ... (Wikipedia)

  16. The Art of Racing in the Rain

    by Garth Stein
    An uplifting story of a race car driver and the bond between humans and animals.

    Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by ... (Goodreads)

  17. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    by Patrick Süskind
    A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.

    An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)

  18. The Paris Wife

    by Paula McLain
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, navigating the complexities of a passionate and tumultuous relationship.

    The Paris Wife focuses on the romance, marriage and divorce of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson, who met when Hemingway was 20 years old, and Richardson 28. They marry and move ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Here Be Dragons

    by Sharon Kay Penman
    Epic story of love, war and betrayal set against the backdrop of 13th century England.

    Here Be Dragons is the first of Penman's trilogy about the medieval princes of Gwynedd and the monarchs of England. , England's King John uses his out-of-wedlock daughter Joanna as a negotiating tool ... (Wikipedia)

  20. The Rainmaker

    by John Grisham
    A young lawyer's quest to bring justice to a family in need.

    Rudy Baylor is about to graduate from Memphis State Law School . He secures a position with a Memphis law firm , who then loses his job when the firm is bought out by the large Memphis law firm ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Thirteenth Tale

    by Diane Setterfield
    A mysterious storyteller reveals a dark family secret, transforming the lives of those around her.

    Vida Winter, a famous novelist in England, has evaded journalists' questions about her past, refusing to answer their inquiries and spinning elaborate tales that they later discover to be false. Her ... (Wikipedia)

  22. All Quiet on the Western Front

    by Erich Maria Remarque
    A soldier's harrowing experience of the horrors of war.

    The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I . The patriotic speeches of his teacher Kantorek had led the whole class to ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Sarah's Key

    by Tatiana de Rosnay
    A French journalist unravels an untold story of the Holocaust, uncovering hidden secrets.

    From beloved international sensation and #1, New York Times, bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay come's her most celebrated novel, Sarah's Key,—now in mass market paperback!, Paris, July 1942: ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. The Invention of Wings

    by Sue Monk Kidd
    A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.

    Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Clan of the Cave Bear

    by Jean M. Auel
    A young woman's journey of survival and self-discovery in prehistoric times.

    A five-year-old girl, Ayla , who readers come to understand is Cro-Magnon, is orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. She wanders aimlessly, naked and unable to ... (Wikipedia)

  26. An Echo in the Bone

    by Diana Gabaldon
    18th-century Scottish and American characters struggle with loyalty, betrayal, and love in the midst of war.

    In the 20th century at Lallybroch, Brianna, Roger, Jem, and Mandy are reading letters from Claire and Jamie from the past, one of which mentions hidden gold, with a location known only to Jem. ... (Wikipedia)

  27. When Christ and His Saints Slept

    by Sharon Kay Penman
    Epic tale of medieval England, exploring the power struggles of the Plantagenet dynasty.

    A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Valley of Horses

    by Jean M. Auel
    Prehistoric adventure of a young woman navigating a dangerous, but beautiful landscape.

    The book starts off from the events at the end of, The Clan of the Cave Bear, detailing the life of a young Cro-Magnon woman named Ayla who has just been exiled from the Clan, the band of ... (Wikipedia)

  29. The Forgotten Garden

    by Kate Morton
    A woman's quest to uncover the secrets of her family's past, leading to a mysterious garden.

    At Nell's joyous 21st birthday party her world falls apart when her father tells her she was adopted as a 4-year-old in 1913, seemingly abandoned on an Australian wharf and unable to remember her ... (Wikipedia)

  30. River God

    by Wilbur Smith
    An epic tale of the rise and fall of a powerful ancient Egyptian kingdom.

    River God follows the fate of the Egyptian Kingdom through the eyes of Taita, a multi-talented and highly skilled eunuch slave. Taita is owned by Lord Intef and primarily looks after his daughter, ... (Wikipedia)