Robin of Locksley is a murderer. A wastrel. A disappointment to his mother, a humiliation to his father and a disgrace to the entire county. We have all known it for many years, but out of respect for his excellent father we have refrained from admitting it. We can no longer stand mute. For eighteen years this boy has led a life of selfish ease and sin. I shall tell you something of this young man, a secret I have kept to myself for weeks but now know I must reveal. Then you will see how undeserving this boy is of forgiveness... 1193. A Crusader returns from the Holy Land to his home in Nottinghamshire, where he is known as a murderer and outlaw. His name is Robin of Locksley. After a youth spent with lowborn friends Robin is determined to settle into the role his father wanted for him: a lord dispensing justice to the county. But a false rumour of his death in the East has stolen Robin's lands from him, and the country he left only four years before is now crippled by taxation and struggling to maintain the King's law. It seems Robin must choose between his desire to regain his lost inheritance and his intention to help the commons beneath his lordship. In this vividly imagined and carefully researched recreation of the era of King Richard 'the Lionheart', England is torn between the landowning Norman lords and their English subjects, and it soon becomes clear to Robin that more can be accomplished outside the law than within it...In this her first novel, Lauren Johnson brings the sensibilities of a historian to the project, presenting us with an authentic depiction of the sights, sounds, conflicts and furies that defined this era and those at home within its confines. A story of redemption, loss, romance and adventure, the novel possesses all the component features necessary to enthrall.