“Addy is the daughter of a single mother living in a pre-World War I English village. To supplement the family income, she must leave school and work as a housekeeper. To make matters worse, Addy’s peers all shun her for being an illegitimate child. When Addy travels back in time to the 13th century, it seems her life is taking a glorious turn for the better. She is mistaken for a wealthy and important lady and gets the respect she’s dreamed of all her life. But things get complicated when Addy finds she is betrothed to a much older man she’s never met. Meanwhile, she’s falling in love with Will, the castle falconer, and the time is approaching when she must decide whether she’ll stay in the past or return to her own time. I loved the descriptions of the expeditions with the captive but wild-hearted falcons, which perfectly parallel the feelings of these two young people. The writing is very visual, creating lovely illustrations in your mind. The love story is breathtakingly passionate but never graphic, a rare balance in modern teen fiction. Emily Whitman is a fairly new Portland author whose first novel, Radiant Darkness, is also very good.” —Amanda MacNaughton, Paulina Springs Books, with locations in Sisters and Redmond, OR

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