The Black Arrow
Classic Fiction · No. 21 — A stolen inheritance, a hidden outlaw, and a young knight learning where loyalty belongs.
- Classic Fiction
- 28 min
- Ages 12–99
- 6 chapters
About this audiobook
Dick Shelton serves his guardian, the slippery Sir Daniel Brackley, during the Wars of the Roses. An outlaw fellowship led by Ellis Duckworth shoots black arrows bearing accusations that Sir Daniel arranged the death of Dick's father. On the road Dick meets a supposed boy called John Matcham, actually Joanna Sedley, an heiress Sir Daniel means to force into marriage. Friendship becomes love as Dick helps Joanna escape and begins to investigate his father's death. Sir Daniel repeatedly changes political sides, and Dick eventually joins Richard of Gloucester's Yorkist forces, not because York is presented as pure, but because Sir Daniel's crimes have made obedience impossible. After forest pursuits, a sea rescue that goes wrong, and fighting around Shoreby, Dick and the Black Arrow fellowship free Joanna. Sir Daniel is killed by a final black arrow, Dick and Joanna marry, and Dick leaves warfare behind with a more cautious idea of honor than the one he began with.
Why it's worth a listen
Young Dick Shelton has been taught to obey his guardian, Sir Daniel Brackley, until black arrows begin arriving with messages that accuse Sir Daniel of murder. Stevenson turns the Wars of the Roses into a swift adventure of forest outlaws, disguises, sieges, a failed rescue at sea, and a young man discovering that courage includes changing sides when the truth changes. Its question is larger than either red rose or white: when every banner demands loyalty, what does justice require?
A question to keep
When every banner claims your loyalty, how do you decide what justice requires?
Chapters
- The Messenger from the Woods
- The Boy in the Fenlands
- The Shadow of Tunstall Moat House
- The Fellowship of the Forest
- The Duke and the Shoreby Fight
- A Question to Keep