THE LIONESS & HER KNIGHT

Morris’s newest Arthurian tale is as clever, funny and wise as its predecessors. Spun with but a few changes from a romance by 12th-century poet Chrétien de Troyes, it features a headstrong teenaged damsel named Luneta, who sets out in search of a more exciting life, falls in with two knights—impetuous, hunky Ywain and Rhience, who’s under oath to act the Fool for a year—and in the course of many adventures experiences a salutary dose of consequences as a result some ill-conceived meddling. Braced by a supporting cast that ranges from a decidedly atypical Holy Man to a stray lion, plus the usual array of enchantresses, Fair Folk and Knights of the Round Table, Luneta plays a central role in a variety of knightly feats, both violent and otherwise, on the way to an ingeniously comic climactic duel, and an unabashedly romantic wrap-up. Once again, Morris brilliantly re-animates an old story, keeping readers engaged while gently, genially urging them to ruminate over the truths at its heart. (Fiction. 12+)