McQuivey’s Costume Shop is a fun series of romantic time travel tales. Mariah Clinton loves archery and frequently participates in a London archery range. This sets her up to blend in when she becomes THE MAID OF SHERWOOD FOREST. One minute, she is trying on a costume for a re-enactment at Warwick Castle, the next minute she’s in a castle kitchen with servants busily preparing basic foodstuffs.

Although she has no idea how she ended up in twelfth-century Nottingham, Mariah, renamed Marian, keeps her head down and gets on with the work. She can cook, but not this sort of food, in this sort of oven. Another maid shows her the ropes. Ellen is similarly young and unattached, with a tendency to stammer, which makes her disregarded by those around her – except Marian. I find Ellen is one of the best characters, because she shows us how normal women were expected to live, with the bravery to go outside the norm, provided she doesn’t get caught.

The rumour spreads of outlaws in Sherwood Forest. Setting ambushes for travellers, Robin Hood angers the sheriff and abbot. His band of men with the familiar names from the folk tales subsist on what they can grow, hunt and beg from villagers. They donate much of their income from theft to the heavily taxed locals. Ironically, the Crusades started because English pilgrims were being robbed on their way to the Holy Land, and now King Richard’s absence on crusade enables widespread highway robbery. 

Robin and Maid Marian meet at the market, and the rest, as they say, is history. With a great deal of action, danger, romance and archery. Robin gets to tell his version of his story, which may be as close to the truth as any, and Marian makes a good listener. She doesn’t know if she ever will return to modern day – but she’s determined to make the best of her life.

We can learn a lot from this swaggering romantic history, which is likely cleaner and gentler than reality. Young Adult readers can enjoy THE MAID OF SHERWOOD FOREST and ask if they would want to live in a time before modern medicine, even for love. Sian Ann Bessey has researched carefully and created a lovely story, with backstory provided through conversation, not an info-dump. The only question is, who will travel through McQuivey’s Costume Shop next?