Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!Voices from a Medieval Village
By Laura Amy Schlitz
Schlitz wrote these brief monologues to be performed by students at the school where she is a librarian. Because no one wanted a small part in the medieval production, so evolved Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Set in England in 1255, various people communicate about their lives, such as Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar, Pask who has run away from his harsh ruler, the local lord, Piers, the glassblower’s apprentice determined to get it right, Alice the shepherdess struggling to save her "sister" sheep, and many more. I think the well researched details and footnotes of information aid in the powerfulness of this performance. I feel that Schlitz wrote with a deep appreciation for the period that can be read silently or performed. Not being a huge fan of poetry or Shakespeare, overall, I thought it was a good book, well-researched and presented in an engaging manner. It would be a great book for a school unit on medieval history and an excellent choice for facilitating class discussions, or for sparking an interest in further research for motivated students.
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