The Armor of Light: A Novel

The Armor of Light by Ken Follett is a 2023 historical epic set in the fictional English town of Kingsbridge at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The novel follows interconnected lives of the townsfolk as they face sweeping technological changes, class conflict, and the early rumblings of political reform. The Armor of Light is the fifth entry in the Kingsbridge series. 

This guide uses the 2024 Penguin edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of rape, physical abuse, death by suicide, anti-gay bias, and sexual content.

Plot Summary

In the English town of Badford in the late 18th century, Sal Clitheroe takes her son, Kit, to visit her husband, Harry, while he is at work. Harry and his team of workers begrudgingly follow the foolish orders of Will Riddick, the spoiled son of the local squire. Will’s recklessness leads to an accident that kills Harry. Due to Will’s wealth and status, however, there is little hope of any justice. To provide Sal with some income in the absence of her husband, Will’s family hires the six-year-old Kit to work in their manor house. While Kit works there, Will’s horse kicks him in the head, leaving him bedridden for six weeks. When Sal comes to collect her son, Will goads her into a confrontation, and when Sal hits him in the face, the squire has no choice but to banish Sal from the town. She decides to go to the nearby town of Kingsbridge. There, she is hired by Amos Barrowfield to work in his mill.

Amos is an ambitious young man. He is close friends with Will’s brother, Roger Riddick, and he is known as a Methodist with occasionally radical views about social reform. Amos is in love with Jane Midwinter, but she spurns his advances as she wishes to marry a wealthy man. Amos finally inherits his family business when his father dies but discovers that his father ran up huge debts with a local merchant named Joseph Hornbeam. Amos tries to reason with Hornbeam, but Hornbeam is intent on taking over his company. With help from his friend Spade, a supplier of luxury cloth, Amos pays the debt, but in doing so, he makes an enemy of Hornbeam. With help from his friend Roger, Amos plans to modernize his mills with the latest machines. He hires Sal and Kit to help him. When he tries to bid for a military contract, however, Will Riddick (who runs procurement for the local militia) demands a bribe. Amos refuses, citing his Methodist faith. 

Two years later, Sal and Kit still work for Amos. Spade begins a secret affair with Arabella Latimer, the wife of the bishop of Kingsbridge. The workers start a Socratic Society to educate themselves, but they face persecution from wealthy mill owners like Hornbeam, who fear that education may bring about social reform. Hornbeam uses his power as a local justice to punish any challenge to the status quo, even though—as Spade finds out—he grew up poor in London. Amos continues to love Jane from afar, but she sets her sights on marrying the son of the local earl. Meanwhile, Elsie—the bishop’s daughter—loves Amos, but he is too in love with Jane to notice her. Instead, Elsie marries a priest named Kenelm who works for her father. Amid the chaos and social unrest, Sal marries her friend Jarge.

Three years later, many of the mills are more successful due to the military’s demands for uniforms, but the mechanization of labor means that many hands are out of work. The wars in Europe have driven up prices, and many people are starving. Amos sympathizes with the workers’ plight, but Hornbeam does not. The workers strike, and Hornbeam refuses to back down. He brings workers from Ireland and settles them in the town, hoping to break the strike. The strike only ends when he negotiates with the trade union, led by Sal, but trade unions are soon outlawed. Spade and Arabella continue their affair, but Arabella becomes pregnant. She tries to convince her husband that the baby is his, but he eventually comes to suspect Spade, and he rips up Arabella’s beloved rose garden to punish her. Sal tries to protest Hornbeam’s acquisition of a new machine, but he accuses her of being in a trade union. She is traumatized by her two months of hard labor in abusive conditions.

Amos witnesses the brutal unfairness of British press gangs who kidnap people and enlist them in the navy. The son of the man who is pressganged is eventually hanged after he is caught stealing to feed his mother; she takes her own life out of grief. Spade and Arabella continue their affair, though the bishop falls ill and dies. Once Arabella completes her year of mourning, they are free to marry, but gossip about their affair—spread by Hornbeam—ruins Spade’s chances of being elected. However, Spade learns that Hornbeam’s own mother was hanged as a thief. Hornbeam has hidden this secret for many years. Eventually, Spade marries Arabella. Kit realizes that he is in love with Roger Riddick. They start a relationship in secret and plan to go into business together, but their plans are put on hold when Kit is conscripted into the army. Jane seduces Amos, but his guilt at the affair prevents him from enjoying her love. Jane has Amos’s child, and he gradually realizes that he is falling out of love with her. At the same time, he feels an obligation to the baby he believes is his son.

Elsie convinces Amos to run for Parliament. He narrowly loses to Hornbeam, who uses immoral tactics to make people vote for him. Hornbeam also wants to spread rumors that Amos is the father of Jane’s child, but Spade uses his knowledge of Hornbeam’s past to force him to abandon this tactic. Hornbeam’s victory is dashed by the news that his beloved grandson Joe has enlisted in the army. Elsie has five children with Kenelm, though she never truly loves him. When his fervent desire for a promotion is again denied, Kenelm joins the war, believing that the only way to become a bishop is to first become a military chaplain. Jarge struggles to find work due to the new machines. He joins the Luddites, a group that smashes the machines to protest in the name of workers’ rights. When he sets fire to a mill, however, he forces Sal to perjure herself to defend him in court. Though Sal lies on his behalf, he is found guilty and nearly sentenced to death. Instead, he is sent to the army. Kit returns from the army and starts a business with Roger. Though they are successful at first, the war and the Luddites make their machinery business unfeasible. Roger accrues large gambling debts and decides to run away. Kit wants to join him, so he reenlists in the military; they are both sent to Spain. When the war is over, many of the characters travel to Brussels to celebrate. While they are there, however, the exiled Napoleon breaks free and reassembles his army, leading the British forces and their allies to make one final attempt to defeat Napoleon and the French army.

The allied forces face off against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Kit is given an important role, carrying messages between the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army. Sal has followed Jarge to the frontline. She buys and sells supplies for the soldiers, making money. During the battle, Jarge sacrifices his life to save Joe Hornbeam. After the battle, Sal must bury him in a nearby churchyard. Kenelm also receives a fatal wound during the battle, leaving Elsie a widow. Northwood takes a blow to the head. He survives but, as Jane shows Amos, his mental capacity is reduced and his character is changed. As such, Jane invites Amos to become a father figure to his son. Back in Kingsbridge, the characters return from the war. Hornbeam is delighted to have Joe back but is shocked that Joe does not take his same hard line against working class people. Joe reveals that Jarge saved his life, and Hornbeam is stunned. Through Joe, he agrees to help Sal open a shop to support herself as a tribute to Jarge’s sacrifice. Sal settles down and eventually remarries. Hornbeam cannot live with himself, so he throws himself from the cathedral. Amos and Elsie eventually marry, living happily ever after. Spade becomes a Member of Parliament and campaigns for workers’ rights in London. Roger and Kit open their business together and—after Will’s death—move into the Riddick manor.