Cleverly, yet subtly, the author marks the extra burdens that women had to bear in a society that was fair to few of its subjects. Several recent novels, Frances Temple's The Ramsay Scallop ( Booklist Books for Youth Top of the List 1994) and Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdie (Books for Youth Editors' Choice 1994), offer a view of the Middle Ages from the female perspective, but Tomlinson adds a dimension by primarily populating her world with women characters, including a band of renegade nuns. Agnes is also the mother of a young outlaw named Robert, whom Marian dislikes at first sight. Among them is her former nurse, Agnes, whose common sense and prowess at healing have earned her the mantle of Forestwife-the wise woman people come to when they are in dire need. Rather than marry an elderly widower who stinks of ale, 15-year-old Marian runs away to join the forest folk, who live by their own rules. Using the Robin Hood legends as a springboard, Tomlinson heads deep into the heart of the forest however, the hero of this story is not the prince of thieves, but Marian, who becomes the benevolent Green Lady of the forest.
Her scrupulous research has resulted in two epic stories, The Moon Riders and Voyage of the Snake Lady. Recent visits to Turkey have fuelled her enthusiasm for the ancient mythology of that part of the world.
Shortlisted twice for the Carnegie Medal and for the Sheffield Children's Book Award, Theresa takes a keen interest in the area where she lives. Over the years she has acquired an outstanding reputation for her historical novels, particularly those, like Wolf Girl, set on the north-east coast of England.
Theresa and her husband live in Whitby, North Yorkshire, where Theresa spent her childhood. She taught as an infant teacher for five years. She attended Hull College of Art, and later trained as a teacher at Hull College of Education. Her main interest was drawing and painting. As a child she had no interest in writing, but she loved reading. The daughter of a vicar, she spent her early childhood in various places in the north of England.
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