"Robin of Locksley is a murderer. A wastrel. A disappointment to his
mother, a humiliation to his father and a disgrace to the entire county.
We have all known it for many years, but out of respect for his
excellent father, we have refrained from admitting it. We can no longer
stand mute. For eighteen years, this boy has led a life of selfish ease
and sin. I shall tell you something of this young man, a secret I have
kept to myself for weeks but now know I must reveal. Then you will see
how undeserving this boy is of forgiveness..."
1193. A Crusader returns from the Holy Land to his home in
Nottinghamshire, where he is known as a murderer and outlaw. His name is
Robin of Locksley.
After a youth spent with lowborn friends, Robin is determined to settle
into the role his father wanted for him: a lord dispensing justice to
the county. But a false rumor of his death in the East has stolen
Robin's lands from him, and the country he left only four years before
is now crippled by taxation and struggling to maintain the King's law.
It seems Robin must choose between his desire to regain his lost
inheritance and his intention to help the commons beneath his lordship.
In this vividly imagined and carefully researched recreation of the era
of King Richard 'the Lionheart', England is torn between the landowning
Norman lords and their English subjects, and it soon becomes clear to
Robin that more can be accomplished outside the law than within it...
In her first novel, Lauren Johnson brings the sensibilities of a
historian to the project, presenting us with an authentic depiction of
the sights, sounds, conflicts and furies that defined this era and those
at home within its confines. A story of redemption, loss, romance and
adventure, the novel possesses all the component features necessary to
enthrall.
