Meredith Ann Pierce

Meredith Ann Pierce is an American fantasy writer and librarian. Her books deal in fantasy worlds with mythic settings and frequently feature young women who first wish only to love and be loved, yet who must face hazard and danger to save their way of life, their world, and so on, usually without being respected for their efforts until the end of the story.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Ann_Pierce