meganbmoore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meganbmoore) wrote2010-01-22 06:48 pm
meganbmoore) wrote2010-01-22 06:48 pm
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The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
When newly-orphaned Peggy Grahame arrives at her family’s ancestral estate, she finds that her uncle, Enos, is obsessed with their colonial ancestors and tradition, and even almost acts like a gentleman from the times. He also takes an immediately and intense dislike to Pat Thorne, a young man from England who gave her a ride to the estate.
The framing story takes place in “modern” times (the 1950s, when it was written) but most of the plot is the story of Peggy’s ancestors-Richard Grahame, a Colonial officer, his younger sister, Barbara, and his childhood tormentor, Eleanor-and Peaceable Sherwood, the British officer who opposed Richard-as related by their ghosts. I loved the historical parts (the only fantasy aspect is the presence of the ghosts) and the various stories and how the relationships played out, though one relationship was wrapped up a little too tidily for me. Though I will never object to a man who proposes to a woman because she’s able to outsmart and drug him so she can free her brother from his prison.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like the modern part as much, and was less convinced by the romance, I think possibly because Peggy is 17, and the 50s is just modern enough for me to have some reservations about how it plays out. I also don’t think Peggy and Pat interact quite enough for me to be sold on how it’s portrayed, though I like both and don’t really have a problem with the idea of a romance between them, just not that quickly. (Which, for spoilery reasons, is rather ironic.)
Also, I find it funny that, though based on “Tam Lin,” The Perilous Gard isn’t really very romantic at all, while The Sherwood Ring, which is about the American Revolution, is built around several romances. All in all, I found this very delightful, though not as much so as The Perilous Gard, and am sad that Pope only wrote two books. (Of fiction, at least. I understand she had some non-fiction, too.)
The framing story takes place in “modern” times (the 1950s, when it was written) but most of the plot is the story of Peggy’s ancestors-Richard Grahame, a Colonial officer, his younger sister, Barbara, and his childhood tormentor, Eleanor-and Peaceable Sherwood, the British officer who opposed Richard-as related by their ghosts. I loved the historical parts (the only fantasy aspect is the presence of the ghosts) and the various stories and how the relationships played out, though one relationship was wrapped up a little too tidily for me. Though I will never object to a man who proposes to a woman because she’s able to outsmart and drug him so she can free her brother from his prison.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like the modern part as much, and was less convinced by the romance, I think possibly because Peggy is 17, and the 50s is just modern enough for me to have some reservations about how it plays out. I also don’t think Peggy and Pat interact quite enough for me to be sold on how it’s portrayed, though I like both and don’t really have a problem with the idea of a romance between them, just not that quickly. (Which, for spoilery reasons, is rather ironic.)
Also, I find it funny that, though based on “Tam Lin,” The Perilous Gard isn’t really very romantic at all, while The Sherwood Ring, which is about the American Revolution, is built around several romances. All in all, I found this very delightful, though not as much so as The Perilous Gard, and am sad that Pope only wrote two books. (Of fiction, at least. I understand she had some non-fiction, too.)