Hawksmaid: The Untold Story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian

Before she was Maid Marian, she was Matty. . . .

Matty has been raised to dance well, embroider exquisitely, and marry nobly. But when Matty's mother is murdered before her very eyes and her father, a nobleman, is reduced to poverty, Matty's life changes.

As the daughter of Nottingham's most famous falconer, she finds a new destiny in the hawks her father keeps. She begins to understand their thoughts and even speak their language. The beautiful merlin Marigold becomes Matty's closest winged companion and her fiercest ally.

It is a treacherous time in England. The sheriff of Nottingham is rising to power, and a true king has been kidnapped. Determined to fight, Matty's friend Fynn becomes Robin Hood. As Maid Marian, Matty joins Fynn and his Merry Men, famously robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

You thought that you knew the legend, but this is the untold story. Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky soars to magnificent new heights here, giving us a bold tale of bravery and romance.

Before she was Maid Marian, Robin Hood's legendary love, she was simply known as Matty. . . .

Daughter of one of England's most famous falconers, Matty knows her destiny lies with her father's magnificent birds even before she begins to hear their thoughts and speak their language. As tragedy strikes close to home and the sinister sheriff of Nottingham rises to power, Matty's friend Fynn is forced to become Robin Hood and she herself becomes Maid Marian.

In a world of kidnapping, royalty, daring adventure, and deadly peril, Robin needs Matty and her beautiful merlin Marigold to help save a kingdom.

Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky soars to magnificent new heights here, giving us a bold tale of bravery and romance.

Kathryn Lasky is the nationally bestselling author of many books for children and adults, including the Newbery Honor Book Sugaring Time; Elizabeth I and other popular books in the Royal Diaries series; and the bestselling epic fantasy series Guardians of Ga'hoole, which became a major motion picture. In Guardians of Ga'hoole, Lasky explores the behavior of owls. Now she uses her extensive research on hawks and the sport of falconry to again render a world that seamlessly blends natural history with fantasy.

The author and her husband, Christopher Knight, live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and summer on an island off the coast of Maine. There she enjoys watching peregrine falcons soar on the thermal drafts above the cove where she swims.