The Forest, Edward Rutherfurd
The Forest, Edward Rutherfurd
List: $12.95 | Sale: $9.07
Club: $6.47

The Forest

Author: Edward Rutherfurd

Narrator: Lynn Redgrave

Abridged: 5 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Rutherford brings England’s New Forest to life” (The Seattle Times) in this companion to the critically acclaimed Sarum

From the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day, the New Forest, along England’s southern coast, has remained an almost mythical place. It is here that Saxon and Norman kings rode forth with their hunting parties, and where William the Conqueror’s son Rufus was mysteriously killed. The mighty oaks of the forest were used to build the ships for Admiral Nelson’s navy, and the fishermen who lived in Christchurch and Lymington helped Sir Francis Drake fight off the Spanish Armada.

The New Forest is the perfect backdrop for the families who people this epic story. The feuds, wars, loyalties, and passions of many hundreds of years reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Bath in the days of Jane Austen, whose family lived on the edge of the Forest.

Edward Rutherfurd is a master storyteller whose sense of place and character—both fictional and historical—is at its most vibrant in The Forest.

“As entertaining as Sarum and Rutherford’s other sweeping novel of British history, London.”—The Boston Globe

About The Author

Edward Rutherfurd was born in Salisbury, England, and educated at Cambridge University. His first novel, Sarum, was an instant international bestseller. His subsequent novels–Russka and London–were also highly acclaimed bestsellers here and abroad.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Gary on November 16, 2019

Another intriguing novel by Edward Rutherfurd Through the eyes of the ancient forest near Bath, Rutherfurd takes us through the generations, exploring the great conflicts in English history such as Norman vs. Saxon, Merchant vs. Nobleman, Catholic vs. Protestant, Royalist vs. Cromwellian and Industr......more

Goodreads review by Belinda on July 09, 2008

The format of this book is like all of Rutherford's others: historical fiction. This story takes place in a location that is very near Sarum (the subject of his int'l best selling breakout book), but its emphasis is much different: the focus is on how the forest in this area affects the people that......more

Goodreads review by Clemens on December 28, 2021

**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!** Read this book in 2009, and its a standalone book about the New Forest in the South of England and its history. Set between the years AD 1099 until 2000, this is the story of the Forest with families who are familiar and well-known to this wooded area of land between the......more

Goodreads review by Annette on December 18, 2017

Forest pertains to an area on the southern coast of England at its central point with Lymington in the south and Lyndhurst in the north. The story begins in 1099 with introduction of Forest’s harsh laws and “the ancient common right of the Forest folk.” It is during the time of Rufus, the Norman Kin......more

Goodreads review by Christina Stind on August 05, 2009

It is rare when I read a book, that I wish for it to end for other reasons that I want to find out what happens to the characters I have come to know and like. This book, however, I just wished to end so I could get it over with and move on to something better. The book is composed of several short s......more


Quotes

“Not all good things come in small packages. If you like books that are big, Edward Rutherfurd is your man. He writes wonderful sagas, tales that cover centuries, always keeping these long stories lively by telling us about the events and conflicts of people’s lives. Rutherfurd does the painstaking research; the reader has all the fun.”Seattle Times

“Many of the most memorable characters are women–Adela the Norman, bold in the face of injustice; her descendant Alice Albion, almost brave enough to defeat the hatred of the civil war; tough old Adelaide, so loyal to ancient grievances that she can’t let her sweet niece Fanny take hold of love.”—Kansas City Star

“The novel covers 10 centuries, tracking a half-dozen or so families and their fates, their fortunes, and intrigues moving the stories along. But the trees have tales to tell, too. As fiction, it works like a charm. . . . English majors will love this, and so will almost anyone else who starts page 1 and follows Puckle, Godwin Pride, Cola the Huntsman and their descendents along Rutherfurd’s twisting road.”—New York Daily News