I recently finished reading Cathedral by Ben Hopkins. It’s not something I would ordinarily read, but it came highly recommended and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The hardcopy version is some 600 pages and it looks a bit like some saga but the writing is bright and the many interlocking stories are interesting and include some insightful commentary on modern issues.
The book revolves around the building of a cathedral in the mythical town of Hageburg in Alsace. The book is set in the ‘high middle ages’ with the action beginning in the 13th century. The focus is on the mercantile aspects of the town and people and highlights the emergence of the guilds as a counterweight to the hereditary aristocracy.
Hopkins’ father was an economist and there’s no lack of focus on money and how such a giant undertaking as a cathedral might be paid for. Hopkins is also a film maker and has a good eye for scenes with tension and some surprises.
There are plenty of villains in this parade of skirmishes and subterfuges, and few who might pass as heroes. Among the latter are a stonemason who must hide his most intimate feelings, a Jewish entrepreneur with complicated father issues and a nobleman whose designs for the cathedral’s spectacular rose window somehow survive his own lost dreams. And although she’s too conniving to be a conventional heroine, the sharp-tongued peasant girl who grows up to command her own fortune just might turn out to be the winner in Hagenburg’s high-stakes historical lottery.
I enjoyed the book and I recommend it if you have some time on your hands. It’s also a book you can put down and pick up again, so don’t think you have to read the whole thing all at once. Give it a try, though. You might like it.
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