Pamela Dean

Tam Lin

Aleena Korell

This was not at all for me. Some English major or literature professor, who is dying to relive every mundane detail of college life and lectures and who will recognize every quote spouted from Chaucer to Keats to Homer to Shakespeare (the only quotes I recognized), is going to love this one. Not I, unfortunately. I may or may not have skipped a 200ish page section in the middle and don't feel sorry for it.

This reminded me of Thorn Jack, another Tam Lin retelling, in that everyone is constantly quoting poetry and being vague-- except I liked Thorn Jack better because it actually held my interest (though at the same time thoroughly confusing me). The Black Hill, Winter Rose, The Perilous Gard, Thomas the Rhymer, or even A Court of Thorns and Roses are all Tam Lin-esque stories I would sooner recommend (Thomas the Rhymer isn't a Tam Lin retelling, it's based off its own ballad of the same name).

Now to continue the hunt for more Tam Lin retellings. :)

Tam Lin

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