Long à démarrer, le roman finit par nous embarquer dans son histoire de banques, de familles et d'ambitions démesurées dans cette Angleterre de la fin du 19ème siècle.

À la mort de son père, Hugh Pilaster doit quitter son école et gagner sa vie en gravissant péniblement les marches du succès. Rien ne lui sera épargné : coups du sort, tromperies et mensonges. Les Pilaster gouvernent le milieu de la banque, des affaires et de la bourgeoisie entre gant de velours et bras de fer.

Une incroyable dynastie finit par découler - tout en rebondissements et en éclats. Ken Follett réussit ainsi à nous tenir en haleine et à nous surprendre sans cesse. Sa brochette de personnages est également bien campée avec des pourris jusqu'au trognon qui continuent d'agir en toute impunité (son cousin Edward, sa tante Augusta ou le sulfureux Micky Miranda...). C'est limite excitant de voir leurs combines se goupiller aussi efficacement - mais c'est aussi hyper écœurant !!!

En conclusion, la lecture est certes parfois trop dense mais globalement captivante. Se lit facilement.

Wow, was this an odd book to read. I could write a long, long list of things I didn’t like about it or which just didn’t make sense, but at the end of the day - it was strangely enjoyable in a guilty pleasure, daytime soap opera addiction kind of way. This reminded me a little of The Count of Monte Cristo, except that the plot is a lot more convoluted and involved. I wouldn’t recommend this to just anyone though, I feel like a lot of people would have a rough tedious time with this one and I wouldn’t blame them.

The story starts with a bunch of boys in a prestigious boarding school and an incident that happens when they are swimming in a quarry. A boy drowns and the verdict is misadventure. Years later, this incident continues to haunt and shape the decisions of the people directly and indirectly involved, many of whom belong to the great banking family, the Pilasters. A lot of drama happens spanning across all the classes of society. Sex, murder, brothels, financial crashes, adultery, betrayal, political maneuverings - they’re all in here.

I’ll start off by saying that this is my first time reading Ken Follett, and I’ve previously only heard of his Pillars of the Earth series. I started with this one mainly because the book was a lot less thick and therefore less intimidating. His writing style in this was... interesting, to say the least. It was incredibly simplistic and matter-of-fact that it was almost jarring to read sometimes. It sometimes also took me out of the 19th century setting, where one would expect prose to at least have more pizzazz. I’m not sure if this is just Follett’s natural writing style, or if this was a deliberate decision he made so that the writing did not take away from the events happening on the page, because there is already a lot.

The characters generally ranged from mildly annoying to downright repulsive, with perhaps one or two exceptions (Solly remains my favourite, Rachel Bodwin’s pretty fun too.). Even our main protagonist, Hugh Pilaster, gave me secondhand embarrassment for the first half of the book. Luckily we do see some character development with Hugh throughout the book, which is more than we can say for most other characters here.

Character motivations also ranged from very believable to unrealistic. I didn’t like how the main romance played out almost all the time.- The fact that Maisie could already be hankering after Hugh literally two days after Solly died? That’s just weird and kinda puts them on the same level as Augusta and Micky, doesn’t it? But I did like how the primary villains in the book each had their own weak spots. Repulsive and self-interested though they may be, they were ultimately saved from being a caricature from having just that one chink in their armour, which proves to be their undoing - Augusta’s love and obsessive protection for Edward, and Micky’s absolute fear of his father.

For a book written in 1993, I appreciate that there wasn’t as much misogyny and homophobia as there could have been - although I wasn’t a fan of the twist that Edward turned to have been harbouring an affection for Micky all along. We just don’t need that “men being attracted to men is the nail on the depraved coffin” stereotype anymore. I liked that we not only had a lot of primary female characters, but that they also held a lot of agency in their own right and also existed along the spectrum of good/bad characters. I liked that Augusta and Micky were almost equal in their villainy and that, in the end, because Micky sought to prove his dominance over Augusta in that he was the one disposing of her as soon as she became useless to him, she turned around and murdered him instead.

Obviously, for a book about a banking family, you can expect a good amount of politicking and plot points to revolve around finance. This was actually interesting to me because I work in a sort-of finance industry myself, but I can definitely imagine all of this flying over my head and becoming just so boring to read about if I wasn’t in my current job.

I find it difficult to think of a target group I’d recommend this to even though I quite enjoyed it myself. If you like a ton of juicy drama in a Victorian setting, then maybe check this out.

Impressive Ken Follett novel, almost an epic (568 pp.) about the interplay between two 19th Century London banking families and the lower orders who want to become part of them. The Methodist Pilasters are quite conservative; the Jewish Greenbournes even more so. Serving as spoilers are wicked school chum Miguel ("Mickey") Miranda and the Pilasters' own Aunt Augusta. Along with descriptions of aristocratic parties and decadent bordellos there's enough soap opera to keep the pages flying. Not the usual Follett espionage novel, but satisfying nonetheless.

i almost gave this one 5 stars, but couldn't put it in the same category as 'pillars of the earth', 'world without end', 'fall of giants' and 'winter of the world', but i think it's my favourite of the 'thinner' books so far.

it was just under 600 pages, so it took me a while to read, as i'm quite a slow reader. i so enjoyed the story - all the twists and turns, and i loved the characters. they were so alive and real in my mind's eye - even the villains.

the use and abuse of women was quite disturbing and graphic - but i tried to read it in context. well - after all, good triumphs over evil, so that's okay.

really really an excellent story !!

OMG!! I enjoyed this book. Although, the story was in the late 1800's, it had a modern flare to it. Ken gave us sooo much drama to work with from homosexuality, adultery, promiscuity, etc. I was intrigued from beginning to end. My first Follett book, but it won't be my last.

Das war nach "Die Säulen der Erde" mein zweiter Follett und den fand ich richtig gut. Als ich ihn gelesen habe, wären es bestimmt 5 Sterne geworden, heute vermutlich aber nicht mehr, weil mich Ken Follett leider nicht mehr überzeugen kann.

This is yet another of this author's books that I enjoyed from beginning to end. Follett is a master story teller with complex players who you love to hate. There are always about 5 different inner twined stories that keep my mind moving from setting to setting. Huge fan of him and this book.

This is my first experience with a Ken Follett book. And while this story was faced paced with some plot twists, I just kept thinking that I had read this story line several times before. I think Mr. Follett is a great writer though and I'm going to try another of his books in the future.

another exciting drama from Follett...man I just love his characters

I love Ken Follett. He has not disappointed me yet!

Cliched soap opera. Appallingly tedious. 200 pages too long. Strictly for fans, maybe. One more of these 2-star books from Ken Follett, and I would have to remove this author from my favorites list. Read Follett's earlier spy suspense thrillers instead.

Očekivala sam da ću dobiti nešto kao „Smisao noći“ i zaista je lepo počelo, ali je veoma brzo postalo sladunjavo i naivno. Grandiozno je u pogledu toga da pratimo likove i njihove sudbine tokom 30 godina. Bila mi je zanimljiva dinamika između pojedinih likova, ali mnogi su (naročito negativci) s vremenom postali karikature i već sam rekla da ovo nije triler, već telenovela.