THE PERILOUS GARD

by Elizabeth Marie Pope ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 26, 1974

O Cecily is lost! Where is Cecily?"" mourns Christopher Heron after he's mislaid his brother Geoffrey's only child and heir, apparently at the bottom of the Holy Well. But Kate Sutton, out of favor with Queen (Bloody) Mary and under house arrest at Elvenwood Hall, is not about to join in Christopher's melancholy. Kate puzzles out on her own the Old Believer theory of witchcraft and fairy folk. And when Christopher is taken underground to be sacrificed in Cecily's stead and Kate too is captured, she so impresses her fairy hosts that they begin to teach her their secrets. Another secret -- that of saving Christopher from sacrifice -- she learns from the mad minstrel Randal straight out of the ballad Tam Lin. . . . Indeed Kate's resourcefulness is so impressive that one can relax and allow one's own imagination to fill in the vague, lengthily inexplicit account of Christopher's mental tortures and Kate's initiation into fairy secrets -- knowing that the Little People will soon vanish into the hoary gothic landscape. Fanciful in spots.

Pub Date: April 26, 1974

ISBN: 0618150730

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION