The Forest

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Rutherford brings Englands 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 Englands 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 Conquerors son Rufus was mysteriously killed. The mighty oaks of the forest were used to build the ships for Admiral Nelsons 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 characterboth fictional and historicalis at its most vibrant in The Forest. As entertaining as Sarum and Rutherfords other sweeping novel of British history, London.The Boston Globe