READ THIS: Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett Publication Date in the USA September 16, 2014 Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
Peachy and Ken
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Your new constant companion, for 1,100 pages
We have been sitting at the edge of our seats waiting for Edge of Eternity to make its debut! We are always more excited once we've met an author too (Stay tuned for our favorite author of all coming soon who put Peachy as a character in his book and called to tell us while we were reading Follett!). The publishing of Edge of Eternity has been booked in Peachy's planner for many months and she counted down the days until it arrived. Our copy already made its debut in Peachy Pools, since she read part of the 1,100 pages by it at the superb Westin Georgetown. (before summer is over, we suggest you make the most of your pool with this book!~and if you are waiting for Peachy to get back to you on something, guess what she was doing instead. Reading this!) Edge of Eternity is the conclusion of the Trilogy that began with Fall of Giants and continued with Winter of the World.
We've become so vested in the stories of the characters, we have been tremendously interested to see how each of the families from their respective countries would evolve. What adds another layer of possibility is wondering how each character will grow with the social, political and cultural histories of the times. Edge of Eternity begins in 1961 and concludes with 2008.
If you are a history enthusiast, you will adore each page, however, if you think you are not so into historical fiction, listen up! Ken crafts characters that though illustrious, are relatable and Edge of Eternity reads like a fast-paced novel that you're dying to devour with gusto. And, you'll need a side of endurance with that. The depth and bulk of this book is mainly unprecedented and probably not since Winter of the World have we done such a marathon read! It is a rare talent that can keep the world enraptured during a story this extensive, and Ken Follett is one-of-a-kind in this respect.
We always expected to find the American family the most interesting and one we'd be hooked on, but what surprised us is that we liked the Russian twins the best here. And, if we had to pick one of the two, it would be Tanya, the really smart career woman! Guess what-she is a journalist. Their highly surreptitious lives we found entirely captivating, and we hated when a scene closed on either Tanya or Dimka. We almost wanted to skip everyone else and just go to what they did next. Though many levels of excitement in varying circumstances and degrees were found consistently throughout the book, the clandestine escapades of the Dvorkin Twins and their fraternal bond and commitment to each other we found most bewitching. Every tale is well-thought through, and what makes this trilogy particularly engaging is that the countries become interconnected through time, as we all know in the first place, but what you don't know is which characters will, and when, where and how. This installment includes American, British, German, Polish and Russian with a bit of Cuba and Hungary thrown in (oh, and a Dane too.)
After the Twins, we found the relationships in the Franck Family - German - to be quite educational from a historical basis. Having a wall going through a city with armed guards is not something anyone in America would be familiar with (sadly, not even at the borders of Canada or Mexico compare to the extremes here.) The impact of the Berlin Wall is given real humanity in the Follett characters. The stories weaved give the reader a true sense of history that wouldn't be possible in a pure history book. It will give the world a heightened sense of what Reagan accomplished in ending The Cold War, though Follett did not choose to include him much (we loved his book!) These ideas reminded us of the book on Samantha Smith.
In the American saga, we wish that Jackie Kennedy played a stronger role in this book because she's our favorite, and our new favorite Jackie fact-only new to us since we went there this year-is that she was engaged at Martin's Tavern. Though President Kennedy had faults we wish they hadn't been as deeply highlighted as they were and that is what we'd change about Edge of Eternity if we could.
If you have not read this trilogy before, you can enjoy Edge of Eternity on a standalone basis, but it is best read after the other two in chronological order. Take a sabbatical from your life, tell everyone you're going on a retreat and read the three books. We did not and don't know how we'd manage read them all at once, but if you can, you should!
Start reading your new best friend.
Edge of Eternity is Highly Recommended by Whom You Know. Ken Follett, we cannot wait to see the next chapter of your hit parade and know that until then, we'll have withdrawl symptoms...
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Master storyteller and #1 internationally bestselling author Ken Follett is regularly praised by critics
for the deeply researched and brilliantly rendered historical backgrounds that serve as the f
ramework for his books. One of the world’s best-loved novelists, Follett has sold over 150 million
copies of his books worldwide. In 2010, Follett embarked on one of his most ambitious projects to
date: an extraordinary historical epic that spans the twentieth century.
The Century Trilogy opened with Fall of Giants in 2010, followed by Winter of the World in 2012, both
critically-acclaimed #1 New York Times bestsellers. “Follett is masterly in conveying so much drama
and historical information so vividly,” declared The New York Times Book Review about Fall of Giants.
Now, in a worldwide publishing event, the concluding novel, EDGE OF ETERNITY, will be released
on September 16, 2014 (Dutton; $36.00).
The Century Trilogy follows the fortunes of five intertwined families—American, German, Russian,
English, and Welsh—as they make their way through the upheavals of the twentieth century. Each
book follows the next generation and are easily read as stand-alone novels. EDGE OF ETERNITY
covers one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through today, encompassing civil rights,
the Vietnam War, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK’s assassination, presidential
impeachment, revolution—and rock and roll. With its emphasis on the Cold War, EDGE OF
ETERNITY has particular contemporary resonance as Russia and Ukraine continue to dominate
current headlines.
Follett seamlessly blends memorable characters and scenes from his own imagination with real-life
characters and events. Among EDGE OF ETERNITY’s unforgettable fictional characters are George
Jakes, the child of a mixed-race couple who joins the Freedom Riders to battle inequality and later
works for Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice Department; East German teacher Rebecca Hoffman, who
discovers she’s been spied on by the Stasi for years and dares a dangerous escape to West Berlin;
Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Nikita Khrushchev who finds himself embroiled in heated U.S.-
Soviet nuclear political power plays; and his twin sister Tanya, a courageous journalist who reports
from many of the front lines of the Cold War.
As always with Follett, the action is fast-moving, the characters are rich in nuance and emotion, and
the historical background is meticulously researched and rendered. With the Century Trilogy, Follett
has guided readers through an entire era of history with a master’s touch and this climactic and
concluding saga, EDGE OF ETERNITY, is no exception.
KEN FOLLETT burst into the book world with Eye of the Needle in 1978, an
award-winning thriller and international bestseller. After several more successful
thrillers, he surprised everyone with Pillars of the Earth and its long-awaited
sequel, World Without End, a national and international bestseller. Both novels
have been made into successful miniseries. Follett’s new, magnificent historical
epic, The Century Trilogy, opened with the bestselling first two installments, Fall
of Giants and Winter of the World. He lives in England with his wife, Barbara.
