This historical young adult novel is one Tam Lin retelling that I couldn’t find when I was reading all the other Tam Lin retellings. It’s set in Scotland in 1162 and is about the sixteen year old daughter of a Norman nobleman. Jenny has always been given a lot of freedom but with her older sister Isabel in disgrace, having run away with a knight, it is decided that it is time to find Jenny a suitor.

I really liked all the details about medieval life. I was particularly interested in how the family and the church deal with Isabel, and Jenny’s experiences being courted by the king’s brother. I also liked the bond Jenny has with her siblings, the descriptions of Jenny riding in the forest and the realisations Jenny has about how her behaviour affects others.

But -- and maybe this shouldn’t be surprising after the tenor of my recent reviews -- I was not a fan of the romance. Frustratingly undeveloped. Although to be fair to Tam Lin, he’s miles better than Jenny’s royal suitor, and to be fair to Jenny, she is only sixteen. But still.

Not my favourite Tam Lin and not my favourite Tam Lin retelling.

Here, Jenny slowed La Rose down to a safer trot, for the roots of the great trees made dangerous traps for a horse on the forest roads. Jenny caught her breath as she looked up. Huge oak and ash trees towered so high, Jenny often felt as if she were at the bottom of a great, green sea. But now, these giant trees were just beginning to show their leaves. Bluebells flooded the forest floor, and the smaller trees that would go unnoticed in the summer were having their moment of glory. Hawthorne and cheery flowers blazed white in the sunlight that streamed through the mostly bare boughs of the larger trees. ( )

This book was interesting because it combined realistic medieval customs with fantasy. The fantasy started off at myth and superstition which was also unique. I liked how emphasized customs, religion, and above all behavior were in this society. I read this book because the title was intriguing.

200 pages in I still didn't much care how they were going to get to the resolution. Maybe if I didn't love [book:Winter Rose] so much, or maybe if I were younger...

My favourite Amazon review of this comments that the author here manages to reduce the tale of Tam Lin to a story of a rather dull girl who pulls some bloke off his horse. Clunkily and earnestly faithful to history in many respects, it's nevertheless full of anachronisms; references to the original ballad are less than subtle; the heroine is wishy-washy, Tam Lin himself barely present, such magic as there is is singularly lacking in wonder - altogether this comes a very poor fourth in the 'adaptations of Tam Lin' stakes. Of which I know of ... er ... four. ( )

This is a charming tale of a daughter of a Norman landowner in Scotland in 1162 which is based on the stories of two traditional Scottish ballads. The main character Jenny struggles with the choice between being married to the heir to the Scottish throne and following her heart. This story is part historical fiction and part fantasy but has some mature themes and is suitable for seventh grade and above. ( )