The Meonbridge Chronicles
5 primary works • 6 total works
Book 1
Plague-widow Alice atte Wode is desperate to find her missing daughter, but her neighbours are rebelling against their masters and their mutiny is hindering the search. June 1349. In a Hampshire village, the worst plague in England's history has wiped out half its population, including Alice atte Wode's husband and eldest son. The plague arrived only days after Alice's daughter Agnes mysteriously disappeared, and it prevented the search for her. Now the plague is over, the village is trying to return to normal life, but it's hard, with so much to do and so few left to do it. Conflict is growing between the manor and its tenants, as the workers realise their very scarceness means they're more valuable than before: they can demand higher wages, take on spare land, and have a better life. This is the chance they've all been waiting for. Although she understands their demands, Alice is disheartened that the search for Agnes is once more put on hold. When one of the rebels is killed, and then the lord's son is found murdered, it seems the two deaths may be connected, both to each other and to Agnes's disappearance.
Book 2
Book 2
How can mere women resist the misogyny of men?
A resentful peasant rages against a woman's efforts to build up her flock of sheep... A husband, grown melancholy and ill-tempered, succumbs to idle talk that his wife's a scold... A priest, fearful of women's "unnatural" power, determines to keep them in their place.
The devastation wrought two years ago by the Black Death changed the balance of society: more women saw their chance to build a business, learn a trade, to play a greater part. But many men still hold fast to the teachings of the Church and fear the havoc the daughters of Eve might wreak if they're allowed to usurp men's roles and gain control over their own lives.
Not all men resist women's desire for change - indeed, they want it for themselves. Yet it takes only one or two to unleash the hounds of hostility and hatred...
A resentful peasant rages against a woman's efforts to build up her flock of sheep... A husband, grown melancholy and ill-tempered, succumbs to idle talk that his wife's a scold... A priest, fearful of women's "unnatural" power, determines to keep them in their place.
The devastation wrought two years ago by the Black Death changed the balance of society: more women saw their chance to build a business, learn a trade, to play a greater part. But many men still hold fast to the teachings of the Church and fear the havoc the daughters of Eve might wreak if they're allowed to usurp men's roles and gain control over their own lives.
Not all men resist women's desire for change - indeed, they want it for themselves. Yet it takes only one or two to unleash the hounds of hostility and hatred...
Book 3
Book 4
