Is there anything more promising than a novel that opens with a young person traveling to a mysterious ancestral home for the first time? The Secret Garden, The Children of Green Knowe, The Little White Horse; even, if you stretch it a little, Emily of New Moon. Delicious books with perfectly delicious beginnings.

The Sherwood Ring is a book of this sort, and it's one of the deliciousest. The very moment Jane finished reading it, she was imploring me to begin, and I'm glad I heeded her plea. What a fabulous book: mystery, romance, humor, history. Most wonderful wonderful, out of all hooping.

Seventeen-year-old Peggy's father has died and she's been sent to live with her curmudgeonly uncle in upstate New York, at a (you guessed it) mysterious ancestral home called, delightfully and evocatively, Rest-and-Be-Thankful. Uncle Enos's passion and lifelong obsession is Revolutionary War-era history; he has spent his life preserving the late-eighteenth-century aura and custom of the huge family home in which George Washington himself was reputed to have spent a night. (Read the rest of my review here: http://melissawiley.com/blog/2009/03/... ) ( )

I absolutely loved this book!! Even though I had library books waiting to be read, when this came from Amazon, I absconded with it immediately and stayed up far too late reading it cover to cover. The story takes place in two different time periods: in the late 19th/early 20th century, Peggy Grahame goes to live with her reclusive uncle on his ancestral estate. Isolated and lonely, she takes to exploring the manor and soon encounters the family ghosts. Some of her ancestors were extremely involved with the American Revolution, including Barbara Grahame, a former tenant of the house; Richard Grahame, her brother and a soldier in the Continental Army; Eleanor Shipley, a young woman from a neighboring house; and Peaceable Sherwood, a loyalist ringleader who makes a lot of trouble for the Grahame family. Each of these ghosts tells his/her own part of the story, and it makes for enthralling, Scarlet Pimpernel-esque reading. Peaceable Sherwood even reminded me of Percy Blakeney in some ways. In short, this is a great read combining history, espionage, and romance. I'd recommend it to anyone!

Compared to Pope's other book, The Perilous Gard, which is one of my absolute favorites, The Sherwood Ring isn't quite as gripping and compelling - it may be due to my own idiosyncrasies (I find Elizabethan England more interesting than Revolutionary America, and the fairy tale of Tam Lin more exciting than ghosts), but at the very least these are two very different books. The tone of the Sherwood Ring is necessarily different - it's told in the first person by Peggy Grahame, a contemporary girl who moves to her Uncle Enos's historical estate, Rest-and-be-thankful, in upstate New York upon the death of her father. Her uncle is a history fanatic and has preserved the estate so precisely and faithfully it's like stepping back in time - there aren't even any telephones.

Pope constructs a series of interweaving narratives as Peggy is visited by ghosts who tell her their stories - personal histories that are tied up with the history of the estate, the course of American History, and the present day events at Rest-and-be-thankful, including Peggy's own life and loves. The pacing is rather sedate, at least in Peggy's story - her role is mostly that of listener, and she's consistently passive (my only complaint). But the individual ghosts are colorful characters who transport you back in time to the American Revolution. One of Pope's greatest achievements here is to paint a full picture of the time period - the rebels aren't lionized, the British aren't demonized, so that the reader can enjoy interacting with real people instead of propaganda or symbols, individuals caught up in the sweep of history and larger than life events amongst which they must struggle in their bids for survival and happiness. There's a lot of exposition in the contemporary portion of the story, which can get a bit clunky, but the ghosts make up for it with more than enough action and adventure. Not as dear to my heart as The Perilous Gard, but still a great read. ( )

After her father's death Peggy Grahame goes to live with her eccentric uncle, a man obssessed with their family's involvement in the American Revolution. Strangely her uncle won't discuss the past with her or an English scholar who is studying them, but the family ghosts are quite happy to tell the tale to her instead.
I liked this despite knowing little about the American Revolution. I actually preferred the historical bits rather than the storyline set in the present.

The Sherwood Ring is the story of Peggy Grahame whose roving artist father suddenly dies and leaves her orphaned at age seventeen. Peggy is sent to her uncle Enos who lives on the family estate "Rest-and-Be-Thankful," ancestral home of the Grahames since the Colonial War in America. Uncle Enos is obsessed with the family history... the family has two beds that George Washington slept in, a silver punch basin made by Paul Revere, etc. And Rest-and-Be-Thankful has its share of family ghosts, as Peggy soon learns. Colorful relatives from the Grahame family tree appear to Peggy and tell her their stories, always in a way that brings light to something Peggy is dealing with. For the family home has its secrets, and Uncle Enos acts very strangely, especially regarding the young man Pat who gave Peggy a lift to Rest-and-Be-Thankful when she first arrived. Uncle Enos orders him out of the house and forbids Peggy to have anything to do with him... but Pat is just a scholar looking for material related to his own ancestors who fought in the War for Independence. Or is he?

Pope introduces a cast of fascinating characters in the family ghosts. They recount their stories to lonely Peggy, and Pope skillfully weaves the past with the present through their tales. History is not dry or dull, but full of real people who lived and triumphed and failed and loved just as we do. And Peggy is able to learn from the lessons they teach. When Uncle Enos falls ill, Peggy must search the house to find the secret that is weighing on his conscience. Together she and Pat discover the secret — and something else besides.

Pope's writing is wonderful, descriptive without feeling heavy, and very straightforward. Her dialogue is wonderful and parts of it are still ringing in my head. Her characters are simply wonderful and the way she interwove history with the present made me wish the book would never end. This is a new favorite of mine and is quite as good as the author's Newbery Honor book, The Perilous Gard. If I were to classify it, I'd have to call it historical fantasy. Highly recommended! ( )