The Forest

By: Edward Rutherfurd

Narrated by: Lynn Redgrave

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

Critic reviews

“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

disappointed

I was disappointed with this book. I have really enjoyed the other Rutherfurd books immensely.
This one was too short. The aburpt switch in the last chapter was suprising.

Not his best.

Good start but this feels rushed and underdeveloped like he lost passion for this project halfway threw because he got distracted by another idea and decided to rush it to satisfy his publisher. An enjoyable read but compared to Sarum and London this is a poor substitute.

*I just realized the problem....it's an abridged version.

Wonderful story but centuries skipped, unlike others

The story was Roman nicely, until all of the sudden during the early part of the Napoleonic wars,around 1800, the reader/listener is suddenly in the year 2000. Those 200 years that were skipped were incredibly important ones.

Abridged

This abridged version doesn’t really work, especially for later chapters. I was wondering why I didn’t follow the plot- because some crucial elements are missing. Some interesting stories and characters nevertheless.

Abridged

A great story, but it was abridged. I’ll read the whole book, as a full audiobook doesn’t exist.