Waiting on Wednesday (4)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I love it because it is basically a squee-fest where book lovers can choose one book that they are DYING to get their hands on. Check it out!

Scarlet

by A.C. Gaughen

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

So, Robin Hood is one of my weaknesses, in any medium. The Robin Hood Disney movie? OWN IT. Jennifer Roberson’s Sherwood books Or even Robin McKinley’s THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD? I’m obsessed with reading them (they’re out of my library right now). I even love Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves! I just love the setting and the characters and how the whole premise, to me, revolves around the moral ambiguity of Robin Hood’s thievery. It’s so gray! Yes, he steals, but hey look, he gives what he steals to people in his community who are destitute because of the mistreatment of THE MAN. #OccupySherwood! It’s no wonder at all that he was a folk hero.

This retelling of the story sounds particularly amazing, though, because usually the only women in the Robin Hood tale are Maid Marion, maybe Little John’s wife, Lady Cluck. In SCARLET though, one of the members of Robin’s band of thieves–borrowing the name of Robin’s brother/friend/squire, Will Scarlet–is, secretly to outsiders, a girl (that would be Scarlet), who robs the rich as a member of the Merry Men while trying to elude capture by the evil Lord Gisbourne (Sheriff of Nottingham-ish baddie) and come to grips with her growing feelings for the leader of the pack, Robin. I just sighed out loud, it sounds so great! I am waiting for this one VERY impatiently!

SCARLET is coming out February 14, 2012 from Walker.