Children of the New Forest

Children of the New Forest is a classic of fiction which tells the story of a group of four youngsters who shelter and live in the tranquil New Forest during the carnage of the English Civil War.

The tale opens as the defeated King Charles I has, as a last resort, retreated to the New Forest. Parliamentarian soldiers, known as the Roundheads, in their pursuit of the king put to the torch the home of Colonel Beverley, a deceased cavalry officer. Although believed killed in the fire, the Colonel's four children were in fact rescued by a gamekeeper named Armitage, who takes them deeper into the forest for their own safety.

Accustomed to an luxurious and aristocratic style of life, it is only with the care and guidance of Armitage that the four children adapt to living off the wild and forested lands. Years pass, adventures are had and adversaries - such as the staunchly Puritan gamekeeper Corbauld - are encountered.

As the children grow up, the eldest boy Edward joins the Royalist army of King Charles II, all the while harbouring feelings of love and affection for Patience, who herself is the daughter of a more sympathetic Puritan. Meanwhile, questions and emotions run high over the fate of the family estate, as the country hurtles towards the final Restoration of the English monarchy.

Offering the reader a compelling combination of the children's coming of age story with the family saga genre, Children of the New Forest is a highly readable tale.