Rating: 
Summary: Another amazon recomendation hits paydirt!
Review: This book was on a "LIST" that I found while I was looking for something completely different. The person who recommended it had also read and loved some of my other childhood favorites, like Robin McKinley's The BLue Sword. I figured I would give it a try, and I was very glad that I did.The Perilous Gard manages to straddle a fine line between historical fiction and fantasy, taking the reader to pre-Elizabethan England, and to a world where superstition is not entirely unfounded. Pope also straddles the line between fear and awe for the Elven folk. Without actually liking them, or what they have done, her heroine feels sorrow for a world and a time lost, that can never be regained. The only reason that this book didn't get a 5 was that it could've been 100 pages longer, and I still would've loved it. The other characters needed a chance to develop more depth, and I would've liked a little longer in the Faerie world. Still, if you are an adult fan of YA fantasy books, like Quest for a Maid, or The Blue Sword, you should read this book. And if you have children who read fantasy, and want a book that is fantastical, and yet still grounded in reality, buy this one, now!
Rating: 
Summary: Clever and enthralling!
Review: This impeccably researched retelling of the Tam Lin ballad is set in Tudor England, where Kate Sutton, an intelligent and wonderfully self-reliant lady-in-waiting, encounters an ancient people who steal children and perform human sacrifice. It is a cleverly rendered trompe-l'oeil fantasy: all the fantastic occurrences could have natural explanations.The enthralling struggle with the strange folk of Underhill and the satisfying, believable romance between Kate and Christopher make the book a real pleasure to read.
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