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World Without End
World Without End
Ken Follett | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroads of new ideas—about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.

Back to Kingsbridge., Following the lives of the children from pillars of the earth. I loved this book so much even more than the first! Ken Follett has a way of dragging you into this world and just making you believe it's now and you seeing it all unfold. Caris is inspirational watching her fight her way through to be exactly who he wants be and letting noone stand in her way despite what they try and do! Gwenda has fought for absolutely everything in her life, her man , her work her children. Ralph is just absolutely vile never have I read about a character I despise more! Well philmore comes bloody close. So many lives to follow and lose yourself in. Highly recommended these books are just brilliant!!
Kingsbridge survives the plague so what's next??

The cathedral is still the centre of it all
  
All That Remains: A Life in Death
All That Remains: A Life in Death
Sue Black | 2019 | Medical & Veterinary, Mind, Body & Spiritual, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
9
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Pros:
▪ Descriptive
▪ Very fascinating
▪ Surprisingly life-affirming
Cons:
▪ Could be a possible military/trauma PTSD trigger
What an incredible book. When I first picked this up I was sceptical about reading it right now, I thought this was going to be a dark, depressing read about death. It certainly is about death but surprisingly not in a dark or depressing way.
I've been suffering with a bereavement since November after my best friend was killed in a road accident, hit by a drunk driver. I have been struggling quite a bit with this and there doesn't seem to be any support for people struggling with bereavement, there is one local charity that provides free counselling but I'm currently on a 16+ week waiting list before they can even assess me to see if they can help me.
So you can see why I was hesitant to read this, however, after reading some reviews on it i took the risk and dived in. I'm glad I did.
I found this actually very refreshing and life-affirming, it's made me see life and death in a different way and I feel like it's helped me cope a little better whilst I wait for counselling.
The chapter about the authors personal experience with bereavements was nice to be reminded that everyone deals with grief in their own ways, even if it may seem odd to others.
I really enjoyed reading the scientific parts of this book aswell, as detailed as some of it was it was actually really interesting. It was also nice to learn about all the different options available now days for what happens to our bodies. Donating your body to a medical school is one option I wasn't even aware of.
The epilogue was a tear jerker, I admit I struggled to read through those last pages. It was very personal to Blacks family and very detailed about her wishes when her time comes.
I highly respect Black for making such a personal memoir published.
This was an emotional, uplifting, scientific memoir that I highly recommend.