Merewenna

Merewenna has been written for motivated readers in first or second year secondary school. It stands alone as a novel but is also suitable for schools integrating English and SOSE/Humanities/HSIE since it details daily life in medieval times. The main character, Merewenna, takes on a male disguise to work as a squire for the local lord of the manor, after the death of the former squire, her brother. Intrigue and attempts on her life ensue as she tries to solve the questions surrounding his death. The themes of the novel are medieval daily life and its social and political issues, identity, courage and the nature of truth. The novel is suitable for whole class study or as part of a wide reading program such as Literature Circles. As part of the English Alive program, the novel has a number of accompanying worksheets, found in the English Alive Teacher Resource Book Phase 2, covering language, reading, thinking strategies, some SOSE/Humanities/HSIE links and an overview of the novel.