diff --git a/common/src/serialize.rs b/common/src/serialize.rs
index 7b96316ee..b6a5ba3a3 100644
--- a/common/src/serialize.rs
+++ b/common/src/serialize.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::io::{Read, Write};
 use std::{fmt, io};
 
@@ -210,6 +211,23 @@ impl BinarySerializable for String {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'a> BinarySerializable for Cow<'a, str> {
+    fn serialize<W: Write>(&self, writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<()> {
+        let data: &[u8] = self.as_bytes();
+        VInt(data.len() as u64).serialize(writer)?;
+        writer.write_all(data)
+    }
+
+    fn deserialize<R: Read>(reader: &mut R) -> io::Result<Self> {
+        let string_length = VInt::deserialize(reader)?.val() as usize;
+        let mut result = String::with_capacity(string_length);
+        reader
+            .take(string_length as u64)
+            .read_to_string(&mut result)?;
+        Ok(Cow::Owned(result))
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 pub mod test {
 
diff --git a/src/query/more_like_this/query.rs b/src/query/more_like_this/query.rs
index 6d12c3272..fb5a48a28 100644
--- a/src/query/more_like_this/query.rs
+++ b/src/query/more_like_this/query.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub struct MoreLikeThisQuery {
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Clone)]
 enum TargetDocument {
     DocumentAdress(DocAddress),
-    DocumentFields(Vec<(Field, Vec<Value>)>),
+    DocumentFields(Vec<(Field, Vec<Value<'static>>)>),
 }
 
 impl MoreLikeThisQuery {
@@ -160,7 +160,10 @@ impl MoreLikeThisQueryBuilder {
     /// that will be used to compose the resulting query.
     /// This interface is meant to be used when you want to provide your own set of fields
     /// not necessarily from a specific document.
-    pub fn with_document_fields(self, doc_fields: Vec<(Field, Vec<Value>)>) -> MoreLikeThisQuery {
+    pub fn with_document_fields(
+        self,
+        doc_fields: Vec<(Field, Vec<Value<'static>>)>,
+    ) -> MoreLikeThisQuery {
         MoreLikeThisQuery {
             mlt: self.mlt,
             target: TargetDocument::DocumentFields(doc_fields),
diff --git a/src/schema/document.rs b/src/schema/document.rs
index 3c92405c4..14f220d4d 100644
--- a/src/schema/document.rs
+++ b/src/schema/document.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
 use std::io::{self, Read, Write};
 use std::mem;
@@ -15,12 +16,13 @@ use crate::DateTime;
 /// Documents are fundamentally a collection of unordered couples `(field, value)`.
 /// In this list, one field may appear more than once.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize, Default)]
+#[serde(bound(deserialize = "'static: 'de, 'de: 'static"))]
 pub struct Document {
-    field_values: Vec<FieldValue>,
+    field_values: Vec<FieldValue<'static>>,
 }
 
-impl From<Vec<FieldValue>> for Document {
-    fn from(field_values: Vec<FieldValue>) -> Self {
+impl From<Vec<FieldValue<'static>>> for Document {
+    fn from(field_values: Vec<FieldValue<'static>>) -> Self {
         Document { field_values }
     }
 }
@@ -49,9 +51,9 @@ impl PartialEq for Document {
 impl Eq for Document {}
 
 impl IntoIterator for Document {
-    type Item = FieldValue;
+    type Item = FieldValue<'static>;
 
-    type IntoIter = std::vec::IntoIter<FieldValue>;
+    type IntoIter = std::vec::IntoIter<FieldValue<'static>>;
 
     fn into_iter(self) -> Self::IntoIter {
         self.field_values.into_iter()
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ impl Document {
 
     /// Add a text field.
     pub fn add_text<S: ToString>(&mut self, field: Field, text: S) {
-        let value = Value::Str(text.to_string());
+        let value = Value::Str(Cow::Owned(text.to_string()));
         self.add_field_value(field, value);
     }
 
@@ -138,7 +140,7 @@ impl Document {
     }
 
     /// Add a (field, value) to the document.
-    pub fn add_field_value<T: Into<Value>>(&mut self, field: Field, typed_val: T) {
+    pub fn add_field_value<T: Into<Value<'static>>>(&mut self, field: Field, typed_val: T) {
         let value = typed_val.into();
         let field_value = FieldValue { field, value };
         self.field_values.push(field_value);
@@ -216,7 +218,7 @@ impl Document {
                 } => {
                     let field_value = FieldValue {
                         field: *field,
-                        value: Value::Str(pre_tokenized_text.text.to_string()),
+                        value: Value::Str(Cow::Owned(pre_tokenized_text.text.to_string())),
                     };
                     field_value.serialize(writer)?;
                 }
diff --git a/src/schema/field_type.rs b/src/schema/field_type.rs
index c2cae2f1e..af537f64c 100644
--- a/src/schema/field_type.rs
+++ b/src/schema/field_type.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::net::IpAddr;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
@@ -329,7 +330,7 @@ impl FieldType {
     /// Tantivy will not try to cast values.
     /// For instance, If the json value is the integer `3` and the
     /// target field is a `Str`, this method will return an Error.
-    pub fn value_from_json(&self, json: JsonValue) -> Result<Value, ValueParsingError> {
+    pub fn value_from_json(&self, json: JsonValue) -> Result<Value<'static>, ValueParsingError> {
         match json {
             JsonValue::String(field_text) => {
                 match self {
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ impl FieldType {
                             })?;
                         Ok(DateTime::from_utc(dt_with_fixed_tz).into())
                     }
-                    FieldType::Str(_) => Ok(Value::Str(field_text)),
+                    FieldType::Str(_) => Ok(Value::Str(Cow::Owned(field_text))),
                     FieldType::U64(_) | FieldType::I64(_) | FieldType::F64(_) => {
                         Err(ValueParsingError::TypeError {
                             expected: "an integer",
diff --git a/src/schema/field_value.rs b/src/schema/field_value.rs
index 5d3199f1b..0d2b76ad1 100644
--- a/src/schema/field_value.rs
+++ b/src/schema/field_value.rs
@@ -7,12 +7,13 @@ use crate::schema::{Field, Value};
 /// `FieldValue` holds together a `Field` and its `Value`.
 #[allow(missing_docs)]
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
-pub struct FieldValue {
+#[serde(bound(deserialize = "'a: 'de, 'de: 'a"))]
+pub struct FieldValue<'a> {
     pub field: Field,
-    pub value: Value,
+    pub value: Value<'a>,
 }
 
-impl FieldValue {
+impl<'a> FieldValue<'a> {
     /// Constructor
     pub fn new(field: Field, value: Value) -> FieldValue {
         FieldValue { field, value }
@@ -29,13 +30,13 @@ impl FieldValue {
     }
 }
 
-impl From<FieldValue> for Value {
-    fn from(field_value: FieldValue) -> Self {
+impl<'a> From<FieldValue<'a>> for Value<'a> {
+    fn from(field_value: FieldValue<'a>) -> Self {
         field_value.value
     }
 }
 
-impl BinarySerializable for FieldValue {
+impl<'a> BinarySerializable for FieldValue<'a> {
     fn serialize<W: Write>(&self, writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<()> {
         self.field.serialize(writer)?;
         self.value.serialize(writer)
diff --git a/src/schema/named_field_document.rs b/src/schema/named_field_document.rs
index 9f7d09fae..c022f61eb 100644
--- a/src/schema/named_field_document.rs
+++ b/src/schema/named_field_document.rs
@@ -10,4 +10,5 @@ use crate::schema::Value;
 /// A `NamedFieldDocument` is a simple representation of a document
 /// as a `BTreeMap<String, Vec<Value>>`.
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Serialize)]
-pub struct NamedFieldDocument(pub BTreeMap<String, Vec<Value>>);
+#[serde(bound(deserialize = "'static: 'de, 'de: 'static"))]
+pub struct NamedFieldDocument(pub BTreeMap<String, Vec<Value<'static>>>);
diff --git a/src/schema/schema.rs b/src/schema/schema.rs
index 0650a78f2..37722e7c4 100644
--- a/src/schema/schema.rs
+++ b/src/schema/schema.rs
@@ -308,7 +308,11 @@ impl Schema {
         let mut field_map = BTreeMap::new();
         for (field, field_values) in doc.get_sorted_field_values() {
             let field_name = self.get_field_name(field);
-            let values: Vec<Value> = field_values.into_iter().cloned().collect();
+            let values: Vec<Value> = field_values
+                .into_iter()
+                .cloned()
+                .map(Value::into_owned)
+                .collect();
             field_map.insert(field_name.to_string(), values);
         }
         NamedFieldDocument(field_map)
@@ -338,20 +342,21 @@ impl Schema {
             if let Some(field) = self.get_field(&field_name) {
                 let field_entry = self.get_field_entry(field);
                 let field_type = field_entry.field_type();
+                // TODO rewrite this with shared allocation?
                 match json_value {
                     JsonValue::Array(json_items) => {
                         for json_item in json_items {
                             let value = field_type
                                 .value_from_json(json_item)
                                 .map_err(|e| DocParsingError::ValueError(field_name.clone(), e))?;
-                            doc.add_field_value(field, value);
+                            doc.add_field_value(field, value.into_owned());
                         }
                     }
                     _ => {
                         let value = field_type
                             .value_from_json(json_value)
                             .map_err(|e| DocParsingError::ValueError(field_name.clone(), e))?;
-                        doc.add_field_value(field, value);
+                        doc.add_field_value(field, value.into_owned());
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/schema/value.rs b/src/schema/value.rs
index d3df1c46c..0766833fe 100644
--- a/src/schema/value.rs
+++ b/src/schema/value.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::fmt;
 use std::net::Ipv6Addr;
 
@@ -12,9 +13,9 @@ use crate::DateTime;
 /// Value represents the value of a any field.
 /// It is an enum over all over all of the possible field type.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
-pub enum Value {
+pub enum Value<'a> {
     /// The str type is used for any text information.
-    Str(String),
+    Str(Cow<'a, str>),
     /// Pre-tokenized str type,
     PreTokStr(PreTokenizedString),
     /// Unsigned 64-bits Integer `u64`
@@ -30,16 +31,38 @@ pub enum Value {
     /// Facet
     Facet(Facet),
     /// Arbitrarily sized byte array
+    // TODO allow Cow<'a, [u8]>
     Bytes(Vec<u8>),
     /// Json object value.
+    // TODO allow Cow keys and borrowed values
     JsonObject(serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>),
     /// IpV6 Address. Internally there is no IpV4, it needs to be converted to `Ipv6Addr`.
     IpAddr(Ipv6Addr),
 }
 
-impl Eq for Value {}
+impl<'a> Value<'a> {
+    /// Convert a borrowing [`Value`] to an owning one.
+    pub fn into_owned(self) -> Value<'static> {
+        use Value::*;
+        match self {
+            Str(val) => Str(Cow::Owned(val.into_owned())),
+            PreTokStr(val) => PreTokStr(val),
+            U64(val) => U64(val),
+            I64(val) => I64(val),
+            F64(val) => F64(val),
+            Bool(val) => Bool(val),
+            Date(val) => Date(val),
+            Facet(val) => Facet(val),
+            Bytes(val) => Bytes(val),
+            JsonObject(val) => JsonObject(val),
+            IpAddr(val) => IpAddr(val),
+        }
+    }
+}
 
-impl Serialize for Value {
+impl<'a> Eq for Value<'a> {}
+
+impl<'a> Serialize for Value<'a> {
     fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where S: Serializer {
         match *self {
@@ -65,13 +88,13 @@ impl Serialize for Value {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Value {
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Value<'de> {
     fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
     where D: Deserializer<'de> {
         struct ValueVisitor;
 
         impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for ValueVisitor {
-            type Value = Value;
+            type Value = Value<'de>;
 
             fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
                 formatter.write_str("a string or u32")
@@ -93,12 +116,13 @@ impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Value {
                 Ok(Value::Bool(v))
             }
 
+            // TODO add visit_borrowed_str
             fn visit_str<E>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E> {
-                Ok(Value::Str(v.to_owned()))
+                Ok(Value::Str(Cow::Owned(v.to_owned())))
             }
 
             fn visit_string<E>(self, v: String) -> Result<Self::Value, E> {
-                Ok(Value::Str(v))
+                Ok(Value::Str(Cow::Owned(v)))
             }
         }
 
@@ -106,7 +130,7 @@ impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Value {
     }
 }
 
-impl Value {
+impl<'a> Value<'a> {
     /// Returns the text value, provided the value is of the `Str` type.
     /// (Returns `None` if the value is not of the `Str` type).
     pub fn as_text(&self) -> Option<&str> {
@@ -224,86 +248,87 @@ impl Value {
     }
 }
 
-impl From<String> for Value {
-    fn from(s: String) -> Value {
-        Value::Str(s)
+impl From<String> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(s: String) -> Value<'static> {
+        Value::Str(Cow::Owned(s))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<Ipv6Addr> for Value {
-    fn from(v: Ipv6Addr) -> Value {
+impl From<Ipv6Addr> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(v: Ipv6Addr) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::IpAddr(v)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<u64> for Value {
-    fn from(v: u64) -> Value {
+impl From<u64> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(v: u64) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::U64(v)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<i64> for Value {
-    fn from(v: i64) -> Value {
+impl From<i64> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(v: i64) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::I64(v)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<f64> for Value {
-    fn from(v: f64) -> Value {
+impl From<f64> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(v: f64) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::F64(v)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<bool> for Value {
+impl From<bool> for Value<'static> {
     fn from(b: bool) -> Self {
         Value::Bool(b)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<DateTime> for Value {
-    fn from(dt: DateTime) -> Value {
+impl From<DateTime> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(dt: DateTime) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::Date(dt)
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<&'a str> for Value {
-    fn from(s: &'a str) -> Value {
-        Value::Str(s.to_string())
+impl<'a> From<&'a str> for Value<'a> {
+    fn from(s: &'a str) -> Value<'a> {
+        Value::Str(Cow::Borrowed(s))
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> From<&'a [u8]> for Value {
-    fn from(bytes: &'a [u8]) -> Value {
+// TODO change lifetime to 'a
+impl<'a> From<&'a [u8]> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(bytes: &'a [u8]) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::Bytes(bytes.to_vec())
     }
 }
 
-impl From<Facet> for Value {
-    fn from(facet: Facet) -> Value {
+impl From<Facet> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(facet: Facet) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::Facet(facet)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<Vec<u8>> for Value {
-    fn from(bytes: Vec<u8>) -> Value {
+impl From<Vec<u8>> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(bytes: Vec<u8>) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::Bytes(bytes)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<PreTokenizedString> for Value {
-    fn from(pretokenized_string: PreTokenizedString) -> Value {
+impl From<PreTokenizedString> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(pretokenized_string: PreTokenizedString) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::PreTokStr(pretokenized_string)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>> for Value {
-    fn from(json_object: serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>) -> Value {
+impl From<serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(json_object: serde_json::Map<String, serde_json::Value>) -> Value<'static> {
         Value::JsonObject(json_object)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<serde_json::Value> for Value {
-    fn from(json_value: serde_json::Value) -> Value {
+impl From<serde_json::Value> for Value<'static> {
+    fn from(json_value: serde_json::Value) -> Value<'static> {
         match json_value {
             serde_json::Value::Object(json_object) => Value::JsonObject(json_object),
             _ => {
@@ -314,6 +339,7 @@ impl From<serde_json::Value> for Value {
 }
 
 mod binary_serialize {
+    use std::borrow::Cow;
     use std::io::{self, Read, Write};
     use std::net::Ipv6Addr;
 
@@ -341,7 +367,7 @@ mod binary_serialize {
 
     const TOK_STR_CODE: u8 = 0;
 
-    impl BinarySerializable for Value {
+    impl<'a> BinarySerializable for Value<'a> {
         fn serialize<W: Write>(&self, writer: &mut W) -> io::Result<()> {
             match *self {
                 Value::Str(ref text) => {
@@ -408,7 +434,7 @@ mod binary_serialize {
             match type_code {
                 TEXT_CODE => {
                     let text = String::deserialize(reader)?;
-                    Ok(Value::Str(text))
+                    Ok(Value::Str(Cow::Owned(text)))
                 }
                 U64_CODE => {
                     let value = u64::deserialize(reader)?;