The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Well, Joanna Sedley is the latest of these conquests who manages to escape from Sir Daniel disguised as a boy. Oh, did I forget to mention that there is romance as well? Remember when I said that one of Sir Daniel’s pastimes is kidnapping young ladies and marrying them off.

As young Shelton’s loyalties are tested, he finds himself going on one daring adventure after another to both avenge his father and rescue his true love. So in a nutshell, yes Sir Daniel is the real dick of this story (sorry had to do it). There is also the matter of kidnapping women and arranging marriages to those that serve him.

I mean sure Sir Daniel is known for switching sides often during the war to promote his own self interest. Not that his guardian is duplicitous mind you. As the story begins, Brackley’s men are attacked by the mysterious group known as “The Black Arrow.” After reading a message that Sir Daniel may have been responsible for the murder of his father, young Dick begins to suspect that he may have been loyal to the wrong person. The main character is Richard (Dick) Shelton, a young ward to the knight Sir Daniel Brackley. I will end the brief history lesson here to focus on the book itself. That’s about all you really need to know. It spanned off and one for several decades. The two opposing factions were the House of Lancaster (symbolized by a red rose) and the House of York (represented by a white rose). Basically, the Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne during the fifteenth century. If you are like me and slept a lot in high school, no need to fear as a knowledge of the history is not necessary to enjoy this book. The Black Arrow is set during the turbulent period in British history known as the Wars of the Roses. While The Black Arrow is not as universally celebrated as the other two, I did find it to be quite an enjoyable little adventure with lots of action and intrigue. Fellow bibliophile and blogger Joelendil recommended this one to me so special shout out to you kind Sir. Hydefor vastly different reasons so I was excited about the prospect of tackling another Stevenson classic. I really enjoyed both Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Last year, I read and reviewed two works by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson