The Evening and the Morning is a historical fiction novel by Welsh author Ken Follett. It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth set starting in 997 AD, and covering a period in the late Early Middle Ages and under the backdrop of Viking raids, through the year 1007. The book expands upon the history and founding of the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, and the construction of the bridge and cathedral there (and the origin of the town's name is explained). It was released on 15 September 2020.

The title is a reference to Genesis 1:5. Follett has said that he has chosen biblical quotes for the titles of all his Kingsbridge novels as he feels that they have a more powerful and epic feeling.

A series based on the book is in the works at Legendary Television and Range Media Partners.

In the Saxon-English society depicted in the book, the Catholic Church had not yet taken control of marriage. Rather, marriage is a civic ceremony; a man may "put away" his wife at his pleasure and marry another, or have two wives. A woman may informally divorce her husband by leaving him. It is even possible—though rare—for a woman to marry two men. The Church frowns at all these practices but cannot prevent them. Many of the book's plot twists would have been impossible without this social situation.

The role of the king also differs from that of monarchs in other Follett books. King Ethelred, shown many years into his reign, does not have the level of control over England that later kings would have. Ethelred says that a king's duty is national security, sound currency, and little else, but other characters note that his purview does technically include other things, such as the welfare of noble widows. Ethelred's primary duty of defending the country from Viking raids creates tension between him and the nobles upon whom he depends to raise and lead armies. He is shown to have limited ability to enforce the law. For example, he fines a noble for improper conduct, but the noble refuses to pay.

In the aftermath of a Viking attack on the coastal town of Combe, a young boatbuilder named Edgar moves with his remaining family to Dreng's Ferry. This tiny village has an alehouse, a small minster, and a nunnery on a nearby island where nuns care for lepers. A young Norman noblewoman named Ragna travels to England to marry Aelderman Wilwulf of Shiring only to find she is his second wife. He had put his first wife aside, angering both the king and the clergy (with the exception of his own half brother, Bishop Wynstan). A monk, Aldred, advises Ragna, who decides to make the best of things. She takes control of the Aelderman's household and her own lands in England. This annoys Wynstan, who had been skimming money from her rents. It also annoys his mother (Wilwulf's stepmother), who had been running the household. Ragna builds a reputation as a just and capable noblewoman and landlord and has three sons with Wilwulf.

Edgar builds a new ferry and befriends a Welsh girl enslaved to Dreng. Because Dreng prostitutes her, she gives birth to a baby. Dreng commits infanticide by throwing the newborn into the nearby river despite protest from Blod, Edgar, and both of Dreng's wives. Edgar gives evidence against Dreng at the local court, but Dreng goes unpunished. Blod attempts to flee back to Wales but is eventually recaptured.

Over the next several years, Aldred works with Edgar, Ragna, or both to address local problems, including bandits, corruption at the minster, acquisition of holy relics for the monastery, problems in the villages that pay taxes to Ragna, and attempts by Bishop Wynstan to produce counterfeit coinage. After Wynstan escapes punishment for counterfeiting, Aldred is sent away from Shiring's large monastery, where he had had some authority, to run the tiny minster at Dreng's Ferry. With Edgar's help, he slowly transforms the minster into a dutiful monastery. Edgar and Ragna develop mutual affection.