Meonbridge Maidens
(2025)(A book in the Meonbridge Chronicles series)
An omnibus of novels by Carolyn Hughes
Eleanor, Agnes and Emma are all spirited young women, with a zest for life and hopes and desires for their future. Just like young women everywhere. But, in the 14th century, women rarely determined the path of their own lives. Men––fathers, husbands, brothers, lovers––were in charge.
Not that that necessarily deterred the women from trying to make the best of things.
Emma Bidwell’s family are cottars, on the lowest rung of society in the rural Hampshire village of Meonbridge. Their lives are hard, relentless, poor. Emma’s father wants a better life for her and his other children, but his idea of ‘better’ and hers do not necessarily agree. Rejecting her father’s chosen suitor, Emma is determined to choose a husband for herself.
As the daughter of a wealthy freeman, Eleanor Titherige’s future looks bright. Yet, 14th century life is precarious, even for the rich. When her beloved mother’s latest pregnancy ends in tragedy, Eleanor is left to manage her father’s household and care for her little brothers. She is content enough until her father chooses to remarry, to a woman who regards Eleanor first as an interloper, then as a servant.
Agnes atte Wode wants more from life than being just a village goodwife. Marrying another villein and running a household of her own is not a bad life, but she longs to learn a craft, to become independent, a femme sole, however unlikely such a future might be for a girl like her. But Agnes is not immune to the piercing of love’s darts, and when the heir to Meonbridge, the handsome Philip de Bohun, casts his eye her way, she is unable to resist.
Three novellas that reveal more about your favourite Meonbridge Maidens…
Genre: Historical
Not that that necessarily deterred the women from trying to make the best of things.
Emma Bidwell’s family are cottars, on the lowest rung of society in the rural Hampshire village of Meonbridge. Their lives are hard, relentless, poor. Emma’s father wants a better life for her and his other children, but his idea of ‘better’ and hers do not necessarily agree. Rejecting her father’s chosen suitor, Emma is determined to choose a husband for herself.
As the daughter of a wealthy freeman, Eleanor Titherige’s future looks bright. Yet, 14th century life is precarious, even for the rich. When her beloved mother’s latest pregnancy ends in tragedy, Eleanor is left to manage her father’s household and care for her little brothers. She is content enough until her father chooses to remarry, to a woman who regards Eleanor first as an interloper, then as a servant.
Agnes atte Wode wants more from life than being just a village goodwife. Marrying another villein and running a household of her own is not a bad life, but she longs to learn a craft, to become independent, a femme sole, however unlikely such a future might be for a girl like her. But Agnes is not immune to the piercing of love’s darts, and when the heir to Meonbridge, the handsome Philip de Bohun, casts his eye her way, she is unable to resist.
Three novellas that reveal more about your favourite Meonbridge Maidens…
Genre: Historical
Used availability for Carolyn Hughes's Meonbridge Maidens