Medieval Woman

Village Life in the Middle Ages

By: Ann Baer

Narrated by: Sarah Whitehouse

Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

A history of peasants in the Middle Ages, the story takes the listener into the life of Marion, the carpenter's wife, and her extended family as they struggle to survive through hardship, featuring a year in their lives at the mercy of the weather and the Lord of the Manor.

Existing without soap, paper or glass and only with the most basic of tools, we learn how they survive starvation, sickness, fire and natural disaster in their home on the edge of the Weald.

©1998 Ann Baer (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Interesting

Somewhat monotonous as I’m sure the life of a medieval woman must normally have been. Lives revolved around seasons and food stores and other essentials. I think what struck me as most sad is that they didn’t have much to occupy their minds in fallow times. No books, no nothing. Just sitting quiet and staying warm was all the luxury they could expect. Even an imaginative person usually had little to occupy the mind since they only had nature and knew almost nothing about the rest of the world. Second was the filth. People knew little about cleanliness and rarely washed. The stink must have been godawful. Pretty realistic portrait of the life of a serf.

I was surprised at the close relationship with the manor, the friendliness that seemed to exist between the noble family and their serfs. And also how little difference there seemed to be between their lives and the sorrows they were subject to.

The narrator is perfect for this.

I docked it one star because, with the lack of any actual plot, I was glad when it was done.

I want a Sequel!

Enthralled by this tale of a young woman’s life in a village where it was rare and frightening ( and few did) to even to travel to the next town. I did not want it to end!

A nice picture of Medieval daily life!

For those reviewers who complain it’s a boring story...they misunderstand the purpose of this book, this is NOT a novel.
It’s simply a look into the daily grind of a medieval woman’s life and it does it beautifully. Narration is wonderful and never distracting.

Fantastic book

I wish I could find another book like this one, or a sequel. Historically accurate and fascinating.

Reality check

Wonderful work. A friendly reminder of all the technological, legal, and social advances western society enjoys today.

good book

It was enjoyable. It was what life probably looked like for a woman during those times. Only thing I didn't care for much was the narration. I liked the accent when the narrator was being in the first person. I did not care for her toddler impression when the narrator attempted the toddler voice. At least there wasn't a lot of it. Ewwww.. It is just my opinion. You may not mind it at all.

Could Not Stop listening!

This book is simply an ordinary year in the life of an early Medieval woman, her family, the village and their feudal Lords. If this woman could write,it would be her diary. The author’s aim is to make this as accurate to the time period as possible.
No wonder Philippa Gregory loved this book!

A window into an unfamiliar world.

Good historical fiction helps you understand those who lived in very different times and places while being true to historical fact. The author archives both while writing an interesting and compelling narrative.

A Year in the Medieval Village

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect when I picked this audiobook, but it turns out to be quite a good choice. It's fiction but also somehow reads like nonfiction and is still compelling. We follow a year in the life of Marion Carpenter, who lives in a village somewhere in England. She's the wife of Peter the Carpenter and has two children. But she's not the only person of importance in the story: just like in the medieval world, in this story you need to get to know the villagers and their relations with each other too. So we meet people like Marion's neighbor Molly, who cares for her elderly mother and aunt; Dame Margaret, married to the local land baron Sir Hugh and the real power behind the village's ongoings; Milly, the hall's servant who is spiteful and enjoys gossip, and Marion's elderly father, a former miller who is losing his health but sometimes can remember past events.

Loss is mentioned in the very first chapter of the book, where Marion worries about her youngest child Alice's health and mourns/ponders the loss of her children. She also comes to grieve when the man she once loved dies suddenly. But her family sustains her: her husband Peter who can be condescending and unbending, but supports her and helps care for their children; her niece Lisa, who visits frequently after she moves nearby and brings news/goods to her aunt and her two children Peterkin (who despite being crippled by a childhood accident, tries to contribute to the household) and Alice. Marion also finds comfort in some of the routines in her life, though they're not always easy and she worries constantly.

Each chapter demonstrates how the villagers need each other to survive. They share meat, honey, tools and services with each other. They also rely on rituals and superstitions, even if they don't understand the whys of it all (the church service in March and the Christmas hymn in December are good examples). Not believing there's such a thing as an ocean and the concerns about owls bringing evil show how narrow this world was for people. But they also somewhat resent being forced to give up the little they have to the hall. Whatever they grow or make must be shared because they are tied to the land. It's a reminder of how serfdom really meant people had few rights but many obligations to their local gentry. This gets discussed in the later chapters particularly when Marion reminisces about her husband Peter's inability to farm despite technically owning land; because he can't work the land, he has to serve the hall in some manner. The only family who seems to not have to do so much of this are the Rockwells, who also are the healthiest and seemingly happiest of the people in the village.

Because we also get this story from Marion's point of view, her worries about childrearing, household matters, marriage and future pregnancies are also poignant. This was a time when women were expected to do it all without complaint: give birth to many children and raise a family, provide food for meals, make clothes, keep the house clean, etc. Marriages were arranged and people rarely got to choose their spouses or remain in widow or widowerhood if desired. Marion appreciates the small things her husband Peter can do for her, but also yearns for the love match her neighbor and former secret love Dick made with Hilda. Keeping her home in order is difficult when food is short and you only have from dawn to dusk to work, especially when things go wrong. And childrearing is hard for Marion, with her rambunctious and untrained daughter Alice needing supervision frequently, while her eldest surviving son Peterkin is unable to do many tasks due to his infirmity. She fears becoming pregnant due to the discomfort and fears of not surviving the birth or of losing yet another child. Things we take for granted, she has to consider everyday.

I enjoyed Sarah Whitehouse's reading of this audiobook, She was good at voicing characters to give individuality, but also at the right tones for each situation: mockery, horror, delight, fear, etc.

Overall, I enjoyed this listen and recommend it to those who like medieval history or want to get the feeling of what life in an English village was like in this period. It's well done and fun to listen to.

I felt as if I were there.

This was an amazing and beautifully written book that had me picturing the life and surroundings so vividly that I was wishing for more at the end. Although it’s not a novel, it is written like a year in the life of a medieval villager woman and so that you are imagining what her life and concerns were. I’d love more like this! Well narrated, too; it seemed a natural fit! The reader was good enough that I virtually forgot I wasn’t just watching or reading this directly; it was seamless.