Helpful Score: 1
I waited a long time for this book. It was worth waiting for. There is a loose story with dialogue, but large sections of the book are description, more nonfiction than fiction. The author does a great job providing the nitty gritty details of what day to day life was like for the peasants in medieval England. Life is very hard and short. You'll have a newfound respect for modern conveniences after reading this book. Marion, the heroine, is a poor but skilled woman in a good, happy marriage to a carpenter. She has children, and like many other women of that time, has lot several children. Her life is one of toil but she has her share of joy too. She probably does more from 7 a.m to 12 noon than I do all day when at home on the weekends! The description of small village life, the feasts in the great house, the expectations of children..all of that is fascinating. If you have an interest in history, get this book. If you're expecting a strong story with a clear plot, strong characters, there's nothing of the kind and I didn't mind at all.
Elizabeth B. (Cattriona) -
This was a realistic and fascinating view of the everyday life of a married medieval woman. It gives a good sense of how to non-privileged classes must have lived -- largely illiterate and impoverished, with few children surviving to adulthood and the main pleasure in life to be found in the occasional feast day. Bodily functions are discussed matter-of-factly. It is not all depressing, and the writing is interesting, but I was exhausted after reading the tale of this woman's life and all that she must accomplish on a daily basis just to survive. Highly recommended.
Down the Common is a story of the common lives of the poor during a time when life courses were determined according to the family and social strata one was was born into. This story is told through the eyes of Marion, a woman with no extraordinary ability except perhaps to take in and appreciate the world around her.
It was a life that see-sawed between times of hard labor and mind-numbing idleness. Both extremes illustrating how hard life was. While the reader gets a view of life from the eyes of a common woman, one also gets a glimpse into the life of the gentry and sees that they, too, had their own struggles.
You will definitely gain new appreciation for modern inventions while reading this book - things like electricty, plumbing, refrigeration, penicillin...
It was a life that see-sawed between times of hard labor and mind-numbing idleness. Both extremes illustrating how hard life was. While the reader gets a view of life from the eyes of a common woman, one also gets a glimpse into the life of the gentry and sees that they, too, had their own struggles.
You will definitely gain new appreciation for modern inventions while reading this book - things like electricty, plumbing, refrigeration, penicillin...
