However the reality of life then was actually much harsher, and more interesting, and will be revealed at Nowra Library on Thursday, December 6 between 5.30pm and 7pm. 

Dr Carmel Bendon is a writer, academic and presenter on “all things medieval” and will share her first novel, Grasping at Water at the author talk. 

Despite poor hygiene, low life expectancy, and a meagre diet, medieval life had its own particular joys, and was a time that produced such important things as the printing press, eyeglasses, double-entry book-keeping and the mechanical clock, as well as some profound philosophical insights and wonderful literature. Step back to life in another time with this illustrated talk.

Grasping at Water begins when a young, unidentified woman is pulled alive and well from Sydney Harbour in 2013, the connections to another woman from 40 years earlier present psychiatrist Kathryn Brookley with a terrible decision as events of the present, the past, and even of the medieval world, begin to merge and blur the gap between truth and illusion.

Grasping at Water will be for sale at this event. Register attendance at eventbrite.com.au