Catherine Storr's Tam Lin novel retains from the ballad the central narrative role played by the female protagonist. However, Storr does not fully exploit the subversive social potential of the ballad, choosing rather to see Bee's exploit as a rite of passage into adulthood. The last lines of the book show Bee contentedly assuming the domestic role exemplified by her own mother, with the implication that her heroic rescue of Thursday foreshadows a lifetime of less spectacular service:

She said, "I'll make you a cup of tea," and saw Thursday sit at the crowded table, waiting for her to bring him the cup, as he'd sit and wait for her, for years that were still to come.