I love reading about the medieval period, but so much historical fiction set during that time is either about real figures (which I prefer nonfiction for) or about original male main characters. I've been pretty disappointed by the writing of original female characters in a lot of books such as the Kingsbridge series (so much fridging, excessive SA, and forced eyeroll-worthy love stories imo), Name of the Rose (who doesn't love the character of "the girl"/"the creature"?), Niccolò Rising, etc.
So far my favorite novel has been Down the Common by Ann Baer. It's a year in the life of a regular serf woman, told entirely from her POV as she goes about her day taking care of her family, working, dealing with hardships like bad weather and illness, and interacting with her friends and fellow villagers. It's both cozy and depressing (in a fun way 😅), and refreshingly has no depictions of SA. I'm dying to read more books like that. They can be any genre like adventure or horror, and set in any place, just featuring a well written original female MC.
by GrumpySphinx
1 Comment
You’d love the Dame Frevisse books- they’re a series of murder mysteries set in 15th century England. Our heroine is a nun named Frevisse who has a keen eye, a sharp tongue, and very little patience for fools; there’s a cast of recurring nun characters who are all incredibly well drawn and interesting.