The Adventures of Robin Hood and Marian

This fresh reworking of the famous story of our hero in Lincoln green is a joy to read. It skilfully combines tradition with originality to ensure its popularity with a new generation of readers. Here we have Little John, Will Scarlett, Friar Tuck and the Sheriff of Nottingham together with characters of Mitchell's own creation -- the Scuttle twins, for example, 'children of an African soldier killed in the Crusades' who escape from the castle kitchens and are found by Little John hiding in a hollow tree. Mitchell begins the story with the nine-year-old Robert Locksley (Robin) running away from home and chronicles the outlaws' activities through their battles with the authorities, Robin's marriage to Marian and his ultimate death at the hands of an embittered prioress and sister of Sir Ralph Montfalcon, whom Robin had killed in a swamp. Robin and his merry friends, including the feisty Marian, are vividly brought to life by Mitchell's words and Chichester Clark's wonderfully atmospheric yet decorative illustrations. A book right on target.