What I truly love about her, though, is she is completely female. It’s always all about the men but hopefully Scarlet can change that! Why should the beloved Robin Hood be stuck with a fair maiden he has to save over and over? How can she be a real partner to him if she can’t manage to do anything more than cower behind him or run away? Scarlet is the answer – a strong female character for the testosterone filled bardic tales of Robin and his Merry Men. Guaghen, never really cared for wimpy, washed out Marion – her character was never fully developed and always full of insipid flaws. Scarlet is a love story, an adventure tale, a re-imagining of a tale the English-speaking world grew up with and it is crafted with love and is masterfully told. Who is Scarlet and why is she so fearful of Gisbourne? What secrets does her past hold that makes Robin Hood fearful of trusting her? All valid questions, all artfully dodged by the cunning and clever Scarlet. Once I could read fluently without lamenting her accent, it was a delight to read. Gaughen writes in completely in first person, from Scarlet’s point of view.

Scarlet took a bit getting used to – her voice is that of a lower-class English girl and A. There is real honor among these thieves and so much more – making this fight worth dying for.Ĭlick on this graphic to explore the book page on LibraryThing! Review As Gisbourne closes in, Scarlet must decide how much the people of Nottingham mean to her, especially John Little, a flirtatious fellow outlaw, and Robin, whose quick smiles have the rare power to unsettle her. Her real identity is in danger of being exposed hen the thief taker Lord Gisbourne arrives in town to rid Nottingham of the Hood and his men for the last time. Scarlet’s biggest secret of all is one only Robin and his men know… that the slip of a boy terrorizing the sheriff’s men is really a girl. Will Scarlet is good at two things: stealing from the rich and keeping secrets – skills that are in high demand in Robin Hood’s band of thieves, who protect the people of Nottingham from the evil sheriff. I flew threw it – I definitely should have started it sooner! It has now led to me re-watching all the Robin Hood adaptations I love – starting with the BBC series.

I’d been debating picking this book up for a while and decided to just go ahead and order it.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen