Ken Follett delves into the mystery of Stonehenge

LondonWho, how, and why was Stonehenge built? The famous megalithic circle on Salisbury Plain in southwest England is the focus of the new novel by Ken Follett (Cardiff, 1949). Although the author is preparing for a promotional tour that will take him starting next week through the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, having already passed through Denmark, this Monday he revealed in the British capital some of the keys and motivations for writing The Circle of Days (Rosa dels Vents, translated into Catalan by Mireia Alegre Clanxet and Imma Estany Morros), which arrives in Catalan bookstores on September 23.

Follett has written about bridges, cathedrals, the Second World War, and the geopolitics of the present. "What led him to let himself be captivated by a recurring place?" for English literature, since Thomas Hardy "Even William Blake?" I ask him during the press conference. Why did he get interested, what fascinates him about Stonehenge?

"When you're surrounded by those enormous stones, you feel a very relevant presence. It's the oldest human construction in that country and in Western Europe. It's probably the oldest thing you can touch [he could, but the regular visitor wouldn't]. The attraction to the great constructions of the past, like the pyramids or Stonehenge, isn't just a matter of historical interest. There's something about them that deeply captures our imagination, an enigma that goes beyond conventional explanations. And when people start to get interested in these wonders, questions inevitably arise." These are the questions referred to at the beginning, perhaps the most important is why: "Stonehenge could be a religious temple, a market, but also a calendar. Perhaps they worshipped a sun god; perhaps it was a market for exchange; they didn't have money, but they did have objects to exchange, or perhaps they used the stones to count the days of the year. Thirty stones in a circle: they could represent the weeks of the year or the days of a month. It's easy to imagine how they kept count by moving an object, a clay vase, in front of each stone, day after day."

In any case, it's important to admit, says Follett, that in this magic circle "you are overcome with a profound sense of respect and fascination." "The staircase in the work feels to me—there follows something very similar to awe. It's this emotion, this moment of connection with a monumental past, that is possibly the most important and enduring aspect of the human fascination with this site."

The same old method

Follett always works the same way. A method almost more scientific—or journalistic—than literary, at least in the first phase. Between six and eight months of initial research, readings and consultations with all kinds of specialists, travel to the field where the story takes place, and the writing, in parallel or at the end of this period, of a skeleton of about 50 pages. Then, editing work and a first draft. Comments from readers knowledgeable about the subject and the final draft, which in the case ofThe Circle of Days It ended a year ago. Since then, he's been working on another project: "I don't speak publicly because my editor and agent forbid me." Each of his works becomes a beautifully choreographed commercial launch.

One of the two major characters in the story is Seft, an engineer who must overcome the challenges of moving the enormous stone blocks from Westwood, in the west of Wiltshire, about 30 kilometers from where the monument stands. "Without the wheel, without beasts of burden, it was all an extraordinary and very difficult achievement for Stone Age people," says Follett.

The other major character is Joia, "a charismatic young woman, the kind of person who, when she says, 'Come on, let's all go to Westwood and get a giant stone and bring it here,' people reply, 'Yes, yes, we'll go tomorrow.'" But unlike what a regular reader of her stories might assume, Joia and Seft are not in a romantic relationship. Because perhaps for the first time—and not even Follett could answer whether this is the case—the author has written about a lesbian relationship.

The most recent theories regarding Stonehenge even indicate that some of the The monument's stones come from Scotland, which would make the movement of the so-called Altar, weighing six tons, even more extraordinary. From Scotland or from Westwood, or from Wales, the "human beings who moved them attached ropes to the stones; ropes made from honeysuckle vines. But it must have taken a lot of people to move just one. They weighed 25 tons. Recreational archaeology experiments proved this. Which shows, for the novelist, that Stonehenge was a "very important collective project." Just keep in mind that the original structure of the monument is much more imposing than the current ruin: there were 30 stones in a circle and 30 lintels on top, plus 15 stones in the center. In total, 75 giant blocks. "It was a far-reaching project and there must have been a tremendous social movement," he says.

But The Circle of Days It is not an engineering story about the construction of a temple, a calendar, or a market. As Follett always does, with simple language that is easy to read and translate – "Which makes my stories as interesting to audiences in China as it is to those in the United States," says the author – this is a story about what is relevant to human beings throughout history: love, death, violence, the ability to overcome, fear of the point of life... how to earn a living? of the 21st century, and The Circle of Days it is not so far fromThe Pillars of the Earth.