I adore this book and I want it to be more known. It’s about everyday life of a woman in a small English village in the Middle Ages who we follow through all 12 months of the year.
I read it two years ago after buying it impulsively in British Museum and literally any time I catch a glimpse of it on my shelf (gorgeous cover, btw!) I think to myself: “What a great book.” It also pops into my head very often, whenever I start to think about comforts of modern life.
I recently also read Hamnet and while I liked it, it left waaaay less of a mark on me than Medieval woman.
So, some similarities to Hamnet:
– female perspective of a pre-industrial life
– family themes
– childloss
– closeness to nature: mentions of many different plants and animals
– community life
Dissimilarities:
– obviously, different time period (some 500 years earlier)
– less narrative driven
– smaller world, her village is pretty much the only setting
– less focus on relationships
– more subtle
Hope I convinced at least a few of you to read it and please let me know how did you like it!
by malikokolo
2 Comments
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/246574
I have this on my shelf but haven’t read it yet (though my edition was published with the title Down the Common – same book, though!).
I wanted to love Hamnet, but it just kind of never felt like it went anywhere to me, if that makes sense? I didn’t dislike it. The writing was engaging, and I liked the nature aspects, and some of the scenes were pretty vivid. I just didn’t feel very connected to the characters, and I was somewhat annoyed by the way Shakespeare behaves, and Agnes just kind of…puts up with it? His selfishness and emotional unavailability felt sort of brushed off, like, oh well, he’s a genius and expresses himself through his plays, so it’s all okay or something. She otherwise seemed like such a strong character who was fine with bucking convention and being true to herself and her needs, so it was hard to understand why she didn’t have more of a backbone when it came to her husband.
Anyway, I will definitely give Baer a try!