It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. But now I’ve decided that 2023 is the year when I will get more writing done and all those unfinished novels will be completed (or almost!). Check out the page on work in progress.
That being said, I have of course added a new novel to the long list. Back in October 2022 I went on a day long writing experience at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells, Somerset. It was a great day where I got dressed up in medieval garb and wandered the Palace grounds in full cloak and wimple, thinking of a new story. The day was focussed on the Black Death and how it affected life in Wells. I was so inspired by the day that I put pen to paper for the first time in almost a year and the words started to flow.
So now I am writing a novel set in the 1340s in Wells, featuring as the main character a woman who is a healer, herb woman and birth-mother (mid wife). She also acts much as a mediaeval barber would (her husband being in said trade). When the plague comes to town everyone’s world is turned upside down and opportunities for revenge abound. My protagonist is no exception and she carves a murderous way through the clerics and townspeople. Well that’s the plan! All writers know that your characters take you where they will, we have very little say in the matter!
As I write this I am enjoying a wonderful writing retreat in a small cottage called Holly Well Croft just south of Leominster in Herefordshire (see https://www.cottages.com/cottages/hollywall-croft-hh82). It’s quite isolated with only farms around and if, like me, you have no car, the nearest shop is an hours walk away (downhill so it’s probably longer to get back fully laden). The cottage dates from at least 1651 when it was part of a gift to a daughter on her marriage and is probably a deal older. The present owners moved it timber by timber in the late 1970s as it was placed on what had become a site of special scientific interest and access to it was a problem. It was lived in in its original location until 1912. It has moved only a few hundred yards and sits more or less where its previous owners would recognise.
On a practical note, I brought my food supplies, spelt wheat to make bread, almond milk for cooking, dried fruits, little meat, turnip, carrot, onions (they ate a lot of onions) and leeks, some eggs and cheese. Armed with Chaucer and a medieval cookbook I was ready. I am baking my own bread – preparing the dough at night to bake fresh in the morning. I am making my own ricotta style cheese – not very successfully as I only have semi skimmed rather than full fat milk. Best of all I am able to don the basic costume of the woman I am writing about. I have a veil and a long dress based on medieval designs. I have my cloak (an item I bought back in the 1980s as it happens, mohair and water resistant), and a knitted shawl (yes they did knit – even the Virgin Mary is painted knitting – google it if you don’t believe me). I don’t have the layers of petticoats but it’s close enough. Immersing myself in the lifestyle is a real eye opener. You understand how a person moves, what the limitations are and how reduced their peripheral vision is when a veil hides the sides of your face blocking out the person to left or right.
The smells of the cooking are also new and surprisingly the food is not at all bland. The habit of mixing fruit with meat or fish is actually very nice. Dried fruit was not prohibitively expensive (around 1 to 4 pence for a pound of dried fruit, almonds or rice) and craftspeople could certainly treat themselves on occasion. If you could afford a penny for some spices that would last you the month, it was probably a good investment. As a working woman my character can acquire some extras. It’s hard to work out wage values for the period and many people got paid in kind, or were given sleeping quarters or clothes as part of the employment. Typically a craftsperson, like my barber, could expect to earn 3 or 4 pence per day. Bread was roughly 5 loaves for a penny (enough for a family of three). Rent would be approximately 5 pence per week (20 shillings a year). This means that after rent and bread a craftsman working six days a week had 13 pence or one shilling 1 penny a week for everything else. Ale, the drink of choice was roughly 3/4 of a penny a gallon (8 pints). It wasn’t strong stuff and most folk would have seen off that gallon every day. A family certainly would have used more. If our craftsman bought a gallon a day that would amount to around 5 or 6 pence per week. His disposable income was now 7 pence. Enough to buy barley and oats and eggs and save some for annual clothing costs, taxes tithes and guild fees.
Obviously I have made a few concessions to modern life. I am using electricity – not least to power my laptop. I am cooking on an old electric cooker and enjoying a hot shower each day along with the very necessary flush toilet! But otherwise I am trying to stay in the zone. So far so good. Day 2 and I have 15,739 words down.
I feel it is important to make one last statement of what is the blindingly obvious: life was hard in the fourteenth century. We think we have it tough with our modern work-life balancing act, but back then you had to get your food (market, harvest, garden, hunt), prepare it, preserve some for leaner times, keep your house in good order, mind your children, sew, spin, make clothes, feed any animals or chickens or geese you had, tend all the wounds and ailments in your household, say your payers, and if you had time sleep, all whilst you were either pregnant or had just given birth. No mechanical aids, no fridge, no nursery school, just you and your wits. And once it got dark, that was time up. Anything left undone was added to the next day’s tasks. No time for writing so I think I’ll stick with the play-acting!
Now how to get in the zone for my sci-fi writing…
Author Jane Grenfell 