Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

I just finished reading Tam Lin by Pamela Dean. It is part of the Fairy Tale Series, in which different authors are selected to write retellings of fairy tales, in whatever format they choose.

Pamela Dean selected Tam Lin, which is actually a ballad with fairy tale elements. You can find the various versions of Tam Lin  at this website: http://tam-lin.org/

Dean's retelling of the story is quite genius. For the majority of the novel, you will wonder where the fairy tale elements come in. At the start, there is a glimpse of the supernatural, and throughout the main character, Janet, tries to solve the mystery of a girl ghost that haunts her dormitory room in her first year at Blackstock, a fictitious university in Minnesota. 

Janet is an English major, and the characters regularly quote Shakespeare, Keats, and others, and make allusions to mythology and the Classics, creating a rich tapestry that portrays quite accurately the conspiracies and politics, the quirks and anxieties of being part of a Liberal Arts department. 

Elements of the fairy tale appear periodically throughout this novel, but it isn't until the end that the pieces come together. As I read, I kept wondering where the retelling came in, but the series doesn't dictate in what form the fairy tale appears, allowing the authors free reign.

I don't want to say more for anyone who might read it, but Tam Lin is a lovely book and worth the read.