Book Review: The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England

The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Renaissance England: 1485-1649 by Kathy Lynn Emerson is a highly useful tool for anyone writing fiction set in that time period. It doesn’t directly relate to what I’m working on right now, but it might in the future. All the same, it was fairly entertaining for a book that’s more or less a bunch of lists about all facets of life.
Just to give you an idea of the level of detail, here’s how the first chapter is broken down. Titled Clothes and Accessories, it has the following subcategories:

• Men’s Clothing
• Women’s Clothing
• Outerwear
• Children’s Dress
• Country Dress
• Hair, Beards, and Cosmetics
• Assorted Accessories
• Items of Clothing
• Fabrics of the Renaissance

This level of detail is attended to in every subsequent chapter regarding food and drink, housing, medicine, government,, social structure, the monetary system, the military, and all aspects of society. If you’re curious, you can click on the link at the top and use the “look inside” feature on Amazon to peruse the table of contents.

Emerson has written several historical novels and has clearly done her homework, providing the writer with every kind of information needed to create a highly realistic portrayal of life at the time. Every chapter has a detailed bibliography at the end, so you can verify and get more information.

Even though the numerous lists don’t make for good casual reading, there are still plenty of entertaining anecdotes interspersed throughout, especially in the areas of medicine and law enforcement. Who knew a ghost could testify at a murder trial?

I really wish there were something similar available for continental Europe and Germany in particular. I’ve been gleaning quite a bit from numerous books on the time period, but it would be so handy to have it all in one place. And no, I”m not going to do it. At least not for a good many years.

If you’re interested in writing about renaissance England, or just want to know more about the time period, this is a must for your library.

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