MEDIEVAL WOMAN Village Life In The Middle Ages by Ann Baer (Michael O’Mara, £9.99)

AFTER many years of research, Ann Baer, a trained artist has written this delightful book with an artist’s sense of imagination, giving us a real insight into the everyday life in a small medieval village as seen through Marion, wife of Peter Carpenter and their two children.

Each month Marion has challenges just keeping herself and her family alive.

The risk of starvation and illness are never far away and with open fires in the thatched buildings they share with some of their animals, dangers are a constant worry.

The men work firstly for the Lord of the Manor and the wifely chores of spinning, collecting eggs and bread making are a way of paying their rent for the land they live on.

Living is simple but hard; only the basic homemade tools to help and anything else borrowed or taken from nature’s bounty.

Ann Baer makes us realise what we take for granted, yet also enables us to see what we have lost, especially the true meaning of “community”.

Here in Yorkshire our medieval villages and archaeology of the era are a valuable resource.

This charming book will only further enhance our experience of them. It is history at its readable best.