The time is the 12th century, the place is feudal England, the subject is the building of a Gothic cathedral. The author recreates the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The forests, the walled towns, the castles and monasteries become a familiar landscape inhabited by Follett's characters: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse.