Marianne Calmann

I am currently on a binge of reading all the books I can find, fiction or non-fiction about the Middle Ages, up to and including the transition into the Renaissance. This book gave me another opportunity to find out about everyday life in this era, including the impact of the Black Death. The fact that we could still be subject to this in the 21st century, as much as we like to rely on our modern medicine and public health resources, still hits home when I read about it from the distant past. The author does a very fine job of showing the daily lives of people as they struggle to put food on the table, and to keep all of their loved ones safe. They also want to keep their extended family safe, plus even wider out to the general community that they live in. But when a family has to move in an emergency, not everyone can come along. All through history there are families that are torn asunder when some of the members leave and some have to stay. (Certainly this was true of the crossing from Europe or any other continent to go to North or South America, especially during war time.) So this is one of the themes that really got me, leaving your community behind when you pull up stakes to flee from the plague.
I highly recommend this author and will look for more books by her.… (plus d'informations)