The famous Welsh writer Ken Follett will publish on October 6th the French translation of the eighth and final part of the saga “The Pillars of the Earth”, which he began in 1989. In The Weapons of Light the author takes us back to the fictional town of Kingsbridge at the end of the 18th century, when the specter of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution looms over England.
I love Kingsbridge, I’ve written five novels set in this town and I know readers will love going back. You can see how the city has changed since the last book, explains Ken Follett in excellent French at the microphone of Jhade Montpetit in the program Les malins.
The author’s latest book immerses us in his world at the beginning of great changes on the Old Continent. We follow the adventures of families whose lives are turned upside down by the new age of machines between conscription, strikes and bread riots.
It must be remembered that the British government was very afraid of the French Revolution. They saw in their nightmares that the guillotine would arrive in England, explains the novelist, who always pays attention to historical details and has his manuscripts re-read by several history specialists before handing them over to his publisher.
They became very repressive and passed laws that said it was a crime to discuss reforms in parliament or form a union […] For me, it’s a good story when people fight for their human rights, especially if they are successful in the end.
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Female characters, larger than life
Whether it’s Ellen in Pillars of the Earth or Sal in Weapons of Light, Ken Follett is used to portraying female characters who show great strength of character. In her latest novel she also addresses a historical struggle led by women: the bread riots.
It’s normal to forget what women did back then; they were hidden. But at the end of the 18th century, what was called the Housewives’ Revolt occurred, explains Ken Follett.
They broke into the bakeries, stole bread and gave it to their families because the price of bread had risen enormously due to the war. […]it had doubled.
The government of England punished these women severely for these thefts and most of them were deported to Australia with no possibility of return.
The crazy bet of Pillars of the Earth
Before Ken Follett begins a cycle of more than three decades with “The Pillars of the Earth,” which is about the building of a cathedral by a prior of the fictional city of Kingsbridge in the 12th century, he had written his novels “Police and Espionage “We have already achieved some success.
He says the editors were initially surprised by his ambitious proposal around architecture and religion. The publishers said to me, “Okay, Ken, it’s about building a church and it takes place in the Middle Ages? “But what are you doing, Ken?” -he remembers.
They were also afraid that I would change everything and try to write a novel to win the Goncourt Prize. But no, I always wanted to write something that would appeal to millions of people, not journalists, not award presenters and not intellectuals.
An atheist fascinated by religious architecture
Ken Follett grew up in a very strict Protestant family and said he became an atheist in his teens. However, this did not prevent him from becoming interested in architectural monuments created in a religious, particularly Christian, context.
I’m not religious at all, but I love going to church. I love architecture, music, the words of the Bible and the fact that this is so [la religion]it’s something done with people, he explains.
It’s curious, but people are curious. My favorite book, [Les piliers de la Terre]With 29 million copies sold, it is a book about a church.
When asked whether he was really ready to say goodbye to Kingsbridge with Weapons of Light, Ken Follett remained evasive.
[Pour le moment], I feel like that’s enough. I can’t explain why and I make no promises. “Maybe in seven or eight years I’ll change my mind and a great story will come to me from Kingsbridge,” he concludes, leaving the door open.
With information from Jhade Montpetit, presenter of the program Les malins.