Dear Ken Follett,

I have been a fan of this book for years, and everyone I know who has read Pillars has enjoyed it immensely. I want to know why you haven't written other historical novels like it. (I have read some of your other novels, and they are completely different.)

— Louise O.

Dear Louise,

One reason is that it is very difficult to write a book such as Pillars. You have to invent the entire life story of each principal character, not just an episode in it. It's much easier to write a short book and then start again. But I realized, over the years following the publication of Pillars, that it was worth the effort, because the book found a special place in so many readers' hearts—as it did in yours.

— Ken Follett