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Other writers have tackled the area before but this is surely the definitive chronicle, with all the stories and legends of the place woven into a narrative that has all the power and drama of Thomas Hardy filtered through a very modern sensibility. The elements that Rutherford comprehensively includes in his tale range from the savage forest laws of the Normans and their hunting pursuits to the founding of Beaulieu Abbey by the mercurial King John.
Rutherford inextricably involves us with his massive cast of adroitly realised characters, and we are taken along with them as they fear the threat of the Spanish Armada into the heart of this ancient domain, with its flocks of wild deer and horses. As before, Rutherford has the grandest ambitions for his arm-straining volume (coming in at 600 pages): from the novel's opening with a plane flying high above a cathedral in April 2000 to the 15th year of the reign of Queen Victoria, the reader is swept through a whole clutch of narratives involving the life and death struggles of the denizens of the New Forest. Certain characters stand out as particularly well drawn: the canny Brother Adam is a rare example of a virtuous man in literature who doesn't end up being simply bland and anodyne. But Rutherford is equally skilful at dealing with the violence of the Monmouth rebellion and his grasp of the shifting patterns of history has, if possible, deepened from his previous books. For those seeking the breadth and solidity of the great 19th-century novels, here is a latter-day work that will more than fit the bill. And who would have thought that the description of a fight between buck deer could be quite so vivid?
Her buck had hit firmer ground and his feet suddenly got a purchase on the grass. His hindquarters shivering, he dug in. She saw the shoulders rise and his neck bear down. And now the interloper was slipping on the wet leaves. Slowly, cautiously, their antlers locked, the two straining bucks began to turn. Now they were both on grass. Suddenly the interloper disengaged. He gave his head a twist. The jagged spike was aiming at the buck's eye. He lunged...--Barry Forshaw
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. NATIONAL BESTSELLER Rutherford brings Englands New Forest to life (The Seattle Times) in this companion to the critically acclaimed SarumFrom 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 "AS ENTERTAINING AS "SARUM AND RUTHERFURD'S OTHER SWEEPING NOVEL OF BRITISH HISTORY, "LONDON." "-The Boston Globe" "Engaging . . . A sprawling tome that combines fact with fiction and covers 900 years in the history of New Forest, a 100,000-acre woodland in southern England . . . Rutherfurd sketches the histories of six fictional families, ranging from aristocrats to peasants, who have lived in the forest for generations. . . . But the real success is in how Rutherfurd paints his picture of the wooded enclave with images of treachery and violence, as well as magic and beauty." "-The New York Post ""THE FOREST IS MICHENER TOLD WITH AN ENGLISH ACCENT." "-St. Louis Post-Dispatch "TALES OF LOVE AND HONOR, DECEIT AND VIOLENCE, INHERITANCE AND LOSS." "-San Jose Mercury News "From the Paperback edition. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780345479365
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