(The Meonbridge Chronicles Book 2)
Fictional Saga
1352
England
“How can mere women resist the misogyny of men?
A resentful peasant rages against a woman’s efforts to build up her flock of
sheep… A husband, grown melancholy and ill-tempered, succumbs to idle talk that
his wife’s a scold… A priest, fearful of women’s "unnatural” power,
determines to keep them in their place. The devastation wrought two years ago
by the Black Death changed the balance of society: more women saw their chance
to build a business, learn a trade, to play a greater part. But many men still
hold fast to the teachings of the Church and fear the havoc the daughters of
Eve might wreak if they’re allowed to usurp men’s roles and gain control over
their own lives. Not all men resist women’s desire for change – indeed, they
want it for themselves. Yet it takes only one or two to unleash the hounds of
hostility and hatred…”
I am tempted to
say that this novel (this series) is the fourteenth century equivalent of the
UK’s long running BBC radio drama The
Archers (of which I am a huge fan). Tempted because the by-line for The Archers is ‘An everyday story of
country folk’ – and A Woman’s Lot is
certainly that!
The village of
Meonbridge is struggling to survive after the terrible Mortality (the Black
Death) had brought such horror upon the land. Entire families had died or wives
were left without husbands, husbands without wives, no children to continue the
family line, no parents to bring up the children… This in turn leads to further
hardship and suffering for those who had survived for there were few people to
do the work, no skilled labour meant those who could work were in a position to
leave their homes and find employment elsewhere – on their terms, not as almost
slave-labour under their feudal masters. It is after or during war or widespread
disease that those who have survived come into their own – and in many cases,
this means the women. Change has to be accepted, but often at a price and in
the face of (male) adversity. All this
upheaval and struggle to remake their lives is very well portrayed by Ms Hughes
who brings a brilliant insight into the difficulties left as an aftermath of a
natural disaster.
There are a lot
of characters, and the character list does help a little but going back to
check it is not easy on a Kindle, and I would suggest to read the first book
first in order to get to know the characters better. The detail is superbly researched
with the minutiae of everyday life almost on a level with being on a par with a
documentary or non-fiction book, this might be at the expense of pace, however,
for the narrative is somewhat slow in places – but this novel is not meant
to be a fast-paced adventure romp, it is an intriguing and highly interesting meander
through the lives of people who had suffered terribly and were determined to
make the best of what they were left with, so for readers interested in the daily
life of the people who survived the Black Death, of the consequences of such a
dreadful disease, or just interested in the 1300s – for the wealth of fascinating
everyday detail I’d say this is a must.
© Ellen Hill
This,and book one in this series, sounds exactly what I enjoy, added to my tbr list. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much - I do hope you enjoy reading my books!
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