World Without End - Ken Follett

This is a great book about four people in 14th century England: an independent woman and a poor one, a violent man and one that's a genius. They all witness a murder in the forest when they're 10-11 years old and it has a big effect on their entire lives. The book is very long (over 1000 pages) but it's very hard to put down once you get into it. I enjoyed it almost as much as Pillars of the Earth.