Although he died at the age of just 37, Robert Burns had an extraordinary life. Born into deprivation and hardship, young Robert's intelligence and passion were obvious from an early age. This is the second book in James Barke's quintet of novels about Robert Burns, following The Wind that Shakes the Barley. The Song in the Green Thorn Tree tells of Burns as a young poet, struggling with poverty in rural Ayrshire, and finally being parted from his lover and children as he leaves the village on his way to meet men of letters in fashionable Edinburgh. James Barke's novels sympathetically and vividly portray the life of Scotland's National Bard.