The Perilous Gard

Elizabeth Marie Pope was an author and teacher specializing in Shakespeare and Milton. In the course of her distinguished career as a professor at Mills College in Oakland, she wrote two books for young adults: The Sherwood Ring, published in 1958 and The Perilous Gard, published in 1974, sixteen years later. I enjoyed both of them, but The Perilous Gard is my favorite. The story is based on the legend of Tam Lin, a ballad so old that there are countless versions of it. Pope used the legend's basic storyline for her book, but she omitted the sex bits. In the original versions these included the seduction (or rape) and impregnation of the heroine and her attempt to abort the babe. Pope's version is cleaned up, but still very magical, featuring a strong independent heroine. It is a young adult book primarily aimed at girls, but I would recommend it for any age and gender.