“The story begins around the year 2500 B.C.E. Seth trudged across the Great Plain, carrying on his back a wickerwork basket containing flints to be traded. He was with his father and two older brothers. He hated all three of them.”
That’s the opening to Ken Follett’s novel, Circle of Days. This almost seven-hundred-page saga revolves around the mystery of how Stonehenge came to be and the people who made it.
Follett describes three groups of people: farmers, herders and woodlanders. In the beginning of the story, they are living peaceably and only really intermingle four times a year when they gather to witness ceremonies by the priestesses, who spend their time keeping track of days using the circle of stones and wood.
When the wood is burned, Joia, one of the priestesses proposes that the wood pillars be replaced with stone and the circle be enlarged. Seth has an engineer’s mind and devises a way
to transport large stones from miles away to make the dream a reality.
Meanwhile a multi-year drought causes the three groups of people to fight over resources. Follett has used a very simple writing style to tell this story, probably to match what was a very simple living style. No one really knows how Stonehenge came to be, but Follett paints an interesting picture particularly on how they could have managed to move large stones before the invention of wheels.
If you’re fascinated by Stonehenge, or have an engineer’s curiosity, then you must read Circle of Days by Ken Follett.
