Medieval kings were not known for their generosity, unless it could be guaranteed to produce more power and land.
But after William the Conqueror swept across from France and invaded England in 1066, he unwittingly laid the foundation for what was to remain one of the most beautiful and untouched parts of southern England -- the New Forest.
The 100,000 acres of forest and heath along England's southern coast were set aside for the king's hunting. Its deer were protected by savage laws -- "kill one of the king's deer and you lost your hand, even your life," Edward Rutherfurd notes in The Forest, setting the scene for his enthralling story of 900 years of history centered around the forest and the generations of people who lived, thrived and died within its depths.
Rutherfurd has developed a beguiling way of delivering his history lessons set around a geographical site such as he did with Sarum and London, and many of the techniques he uses will be familiar to his growing number of fans. The result is a succession of fascinating vignettes that tell the history of a people and their place.
Starting in 1099 with the mysterious death of King William Rufus, son of the Conqueror, while on a hunting trip, The Forest continues until modern times, when Rutherfurd once again proves that the best is in the past.
The novel follows several families -- the Prides, representing the yeoman of England; the Albions, the wealthy, landed class; the Tottons, the merchants; the Seagulls, the smugglers; and dozens of others who represent the various stratas of England's class-ridden society.
Rutherfurd uses characteristics passed from generation to generation to jog the reader's memory -- the chinless Seagulls, the claw-handed Grockletons; and items such as the wooden crucifix, possibly dating to Christ, worn by various Albions, and the elaborate carved bed used by the Puckles, who are usually gnarled, looking like the oaks of the forest.
Every time an acorn falls or is carefully planted by young lovers you know that centuries and pages later some character will rest against an oak, and it will have some deeper meaning to the story.
Each segment provides a quick history update as the story can jump as much as 100 years. It starts with the Norman Adela de la Roche marrying Edgar, son of the Saxon Cola, begetting the Albion line, which stretches through the book.
The action passes through the Middle Ages with the monk Brother Adam having an affair with the stalwart Mary Pride and being the first to pass on the wooden cross, given to him by his mother.
Then there are the tough times of the reign of Mary Tudor, known as Bloody Mary, with its religious oppression. The Spanish Armada is up next, followed by the execution of Charles I, the Puritans and the Restoration, Queen Anne and the Hanoverians.
Family feuds and betrayals flourish. One of the best is the tale of Fanny Albion, prisoner of past hatreds stemming from the beheading of her great-grandmother in the belief she had betrayed the Catholic James II, and fearful that her true love Wyndham Martell, descendant of the 12th-century Hugh de Martell, who caused a flutter in the heart of Adela de la Roche, will discover her family's link to one of the area's most disreputable characters.
At times, Rutherfurd's storytelling reminds one of Jane Austen, but he occasionally slips and his plotting is more akin to the historical tales of Georgette Heyer.
The chapters are filled with familiar names, many of them taken from actual places in the New Forest and used to build Rutherfurd's large cast of characters who loved and lost, suffered and thrived, built and destroyed, honored and betrayed for hundreds of years beneath the ancient and majestic trees.