*This is a fictional account of a medieval woman*
I just wanted to make that distinction to start with. It's not non-fiction, and yet it's not a novel either as it doesn't follow the 'beginning, middle and end' structure and has no inciting incident etc. It's more of a fictional journal. A year in the life of Marion, wife to the village carpenter.

And it's a hard life! We're never told which year, but it's early Middle Ages by my reckoning.
The villagers all pull together to sustain their livelihood under the feudal system. Money doesn't change hands, but produce does. This village mainly trades in wool and there's a wonderful festival to celebrate sheep shearing day!

There's a few too many bodily fluids mentioned for my taste. And I'm pretty sure that, given there's a shallow part of stream, the women would have had a wash day and wouldn't have been quite so rank.

But it's definitely very well researched. You really get a look into the daily grind of these people's lives; more down than ups. Every day is a constant struggle and death is ever waiting.
The lord of the manor is a bit feckless, but he has a sensible wife who knows what's what. And the village keeps ticking on, overseen by a severe Rollo with his counting sticks.

It's a lesson in taking pleasure from the simple things in life and realising just how lucky we are with our modern day luxuries. An intriguing read for history buffs.

In this slim volume there is a fantastic read. Excellent insight and research into a life lived hundreds of years ago.

This truly brings history to life. I was fascinated by the day to day existence of a medieval woman. By the end of this novel, I felt as if I had been through the year with her and felt grateful for being born in the twentieth century. Even though it is fiction, it brought affirms that people have had the same feelings, frustrations, and hopes no matter when they lived.