Last year, around this time, I wrote a post about one of my favorite YA books of all time, The Perilous Gard. I usually re-read it in October since the book’s crisis happens on All Hallows Eve. The other book I re-read every year is the only other book that Elizabeth Marie Pope wrote called The Sherwood Ring. While it doesn’t end on Halloween, it is a story about love and redemption told to the young heroine by ghosts that haunt her uncle’s home. Ghosts that date back–and retell–a fascinating and true-yet-little-known story about the Revolutionary War.
This book, written by a brilliant scholar named Elizabeth Marie Pope (1917 – 1992) was originally published in 1958 by Houghton Mifflin Co., and is the first of the only two books she ever wrote. Elizabeth Marie Pope was born in Washington D.C .and received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College. After finishing her PhD from Johns Hopkins University, she took a position teaching English at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Eventually, she became head of the English Department and taught at the college for 38 years.
Elizabeth Marie Pope’s passion was passionate about the origins of mythologies and legends. She believed there were four ways to teach myths. The first was historical-archaeological, where you teach what actually happened according to the evidence you have. The second way was psychological, through symbols that represent the deepest part of a person’s psyche. The third way was through anthropological theory, meaning through the seasons of life and nature (agricultural seasons, human birth, marriage, children, death, etc.) which are all marked by elaborate ceremonies. The fourth is analytic study, which is closer to a scientific study than the first three. This is where one breaks down the parts of the story and classifies them, as one would a scientific experiment.
So what does this have to do with a YA book published decades ago? According to one of her former students (and this has not been corroborated), Elizabeth Marie Pope wrote her books as a way to show her students how myths affect literature. And her first book, The Sherwood Ring, is a ghostly tale of love and betrayal set in both the modern world as well as during the Revolutionary War. This classic novel is about four ghosts from the Revolutionary War who teach the young heroine, Peggy Grahame, about love, honor, romance, and redemption.
Peggy Grahame is a young woman who comes to her family’s massive estate in upstate New York to live with there great uncle Enos. Enos lives an isolated life and has named the home “Rest and Be Thankful.” Enos is also a bit forgetful and, when the story opens, he forgets to send someone to pick Peggy up at the train statin. As she walks home, she meets Pat Thorne, a young British scholar who is desperately seeking an audience with Enos in regards to questions Pat has uncovered while doing his own genealogical research.
When Enos sees Pat, Enos gets upset and throws him out of the mansion. Now Peggy is on her own, in the lonely home, where she discovers Uncle Enos is protecting a secret: four ghosts from the Revolutionary War who haunt the estate. These ghosts end up sharing their stories with Peggy–stories filled with intrigue, battles, espionage, and even a daring escape by the infamous Tory renegade Peaceable Sherwood in 1778. As Peggy’s own life becomes more intertwined with the ghostly stories, she discovers startling similarities between the ghostly stories and her own past. Similarities that could affect her future and even endanger her own life. When Peggy and Pat join forces, they are finally able to solve the mystery of the Sherwood Ring, set the historical record straight, and allow the past to finally rest.
This is a romance, but not in the traditional sense. Peggy is on her own, with the ghosts, for most of the story. While that in itself is not unusual now, this type of story structure was unusual in 1958. In this book, Peggy searches for the answers on her own until she realizes that she needs help, only to ask for it on her own terms. It’s the story of a young woman who comes to realize her own strength doesn’t come from how much she knows, but from how powerfully she loves. This is a perfect book for a cold autumn night along with a cup of hot cider. But I am warning you now–do not fall in love with the handsome and rakish Peaceable Sherwood. Otherwise he might show up to haunt your dreams. Yes, I speak from experience. 🙂
This book has been reprinted many, many times in hardcover and paperback with many different covers. If you decide to buy this book, look for an edition that was illustrated by Evaline Ness. Her drawings truly add to the story’s historical and ghostly aesthetic.
