I had a very pleasant time with this highly entertaining tale, translated from Italian. We're diving into a romantic view of Tuscany during the Middle Ages. The adventure story is reminiscent of Robin Hood, Tosca being a female version of the legendary hero. Her brother tells her she shouldn't steal, because their parents were examples of honesty and justice. But she has a quick comeback: "Honesty. Justice. Exactly. They are my guides each time I go out looking for food! Some have too much, some have nothing! I'm just reestablishing balance!"

Our teenage protagonist, Tosca, is resourceful when she's out on her own. She is also uncommonly skillful with her bow. In the oldest legends, Robin Hood wasn't of noble birth, and neither is Tosca. She and her brother are poor orphans since soldiers burned down their village. Her eagerness to give to the poor is as much about making friends as about valuing equality. She happily robs the nobility who live sheltered lives with no conception of what it's like outside their guarded gates, and while their excesses sicken her, she doesn't, at first, believe she can change things, just give them the trouble they deserve.

We get to know a merry trio of comrades with a sparkling chemistry. Tosca's new friend is a young noblewoman, though the nobility is otherwise Tosca's enemy. But no sooner has she met Tosca than it is evident that Lucilla, as a girl, has little freedom, despite her privilege. We don't get the feeling she's ungrateful or out of touch with reality, rather that she is sympathetically reaching for real experiences of life as an unprotected tightrope walk without safety net. She's never passive, but Tosca is most active of all, the one driving events speedily forward, always wanting more, while Rinalto is infuriatingly content with living and breathing his sentimental art. Tosca could be described as an idealist and a troublemaker, a hellraiser and daredevil, while Rinalto, her brother, doesn't want to stir up trouble or rock anybody's boat and has no qualms about selling his troubadour service to the court. Rinalto lives rather in the world of poetry than in the real world. The pace of the story is head-spinningly fast and the lively energy and good jokes thrown into the mix make time fly by. The mood is invitingly summery. 

Taking us with her on this unpredictable journey, Radice exceeded my expectations (unlike some popular literal-minded writers who object to the go-to point about disproportionate hype that it’s not even a real emperor, just a H.C. Andersen fairy tale figure).  Intriguing subtlety and ambiguity spark our inspiration with what’s implied rather than stated. Much is left to our imagination, inviting our part in it as we happily head out into our daydreams to continue open-ended scenes in our heads.

Will Tosca risk her life for her privileged friend when her life is threatened as a pawn in a power struggle, and will Lucilla be free to choose the one she's falling in love with? There's a lot of fun had here, playing with archetypes, on the way to finding the answer to these questions. Such a sweet story.