Showing results for "Forest" in Historical Fiction

Few places lie closer to the heart of the nation's heritage than the New Forest. Now, Edward Rutherfurd weaves its history and legends into compelling fiction. From the mysterious killing of King William Rufus, treachery and witchcraft, smuggling and poaching run through this epic tale of well-born ladies, lowly woodsmen, sailors, merchants and Cistercian monks. The feuds, wars, loyalties and passions of generations reach their climax in a crime that shatters the decorous society of Jane Austen's Bath.

A wild land too mountainous to be tamed by plows…A Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, his cunning overshadowed only by his ambition…A young Priestess of the Old Religion, together with a charismatic outlaw, sparking a rebellion from deep within the forests…And an ex-Hospitaller caught between them all. At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John.

A small force of peasants from the forest regions surrounding Lake Lucerne, rise up against their Austrian overlords in the 14th century. Outnumbered seven-to-one by the battle-hardened Habsburg army, they have little hope. A daring moonlight raid leaves the outlaw Noll Melchthal in possession of an Austrian fortress. In the north, an outraged Leopold of Habsburg assembles the ultimate punitive force: a great army, thousands strong, boasting the best knights and soldiers the Holy Roman Empire has to offer.

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment. But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent.

‘[A] witty, unusual murder mystery’ SUNDAY TIMES A compelling wartime mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime and Foyle's War. SUMMER 1944. The tide of war is turning. The Allies are at the gates of Paris. But the Nazis have one last chance of victory – and its...

The Ramayana, one of the world's greatest epics, is also a tragic love story. In this brilliant retelling, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places Sita at the centre of the novel: this is Sita's version. The Forest of Enchantments is also a very human story of some of the other women in the epic, often misunderstood and relegated to the margins: Kaikeyi, Surpanakha, Mandodari. A powerful comment on duty, betrayal, infidelity and honour, it is also about women's struggle to retain autonomy in a world that privileges men.

Eliza Ellis has stayed hidden in Balfour Forest for as long as she can remember. Perhaps her only friends are the trees, or her little dog, or her story-telling father called Captain. But at least she is safe from the cruel world outside, a world Captain has warned her against and protected her from. That is, until a handsome stranger named Felton Northwood invades her quiet forest and steals her away. Why does he tell such lies?

The second book in the Soldier Son trilogy, from the author of the Tawny Man trilogy, following on from the bestselling Shaman’s Crossing. The King's Cavalla Academy has been ravaged by the Speck plague. The disease has decimated the ranks of both cadets and instructors, and even the survivors...

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...

Set amid the glimmering lakes and disappearing forests of the early United States, The Forest imagines how a wide variety of Americans experienced their lives. Part truth, part fiction, featuring both real and invented characters, the book follows painters, poets, enslaved people, farmers, and artisans living and working in a world still made largely of wood. Some of the historical characters—such as Thomas Cole, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Fanny Kemble, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nat Turner—are well-known, while others are not. But all are creators of private and grand designs.

A boundary dispute between two farmers leads to digging that uncovers an ancient settlement...with a recent corpse buried in it. Ela Longespée must find the killer and restore peace between warring neighbors, all while negotiating her hard-won new role as High sheriff of Wiltshire.

Beobrand finds himself caught between the perilous intrigues of royalty and the Church in this latest thrilling Bernicia Chronicles adventure. AD 652. Beobrand has been ordered to lead a group of pilgrims to the holy city of Rome. Chief among them is Wilfrid, a novice of the Church with some...

She was Eilan, the daughter of a Druidic warleader and gifted with visions. In a land struggling to survive both Roman conquerors and her own people's enemies, surely fate had marked her to become a priestess of the Forest House. But first Eilan had chosen a different, forbidden path - to love Gaius, a soldier of mixed blood among the legions sent to subdue her country. So she must hide a terrible secret when she is anointed as the new High Priestess.

This story tells the gripping adventure of a Viking called Borghild, and a Norwegian forest cat called Whit Freya. They sail to Scotland, the Isle of Man, and then England.

The greenwood has been quiet, and the outlaws have become complacent, but the harsh reality of life is about to hit the companions with brutal, deadly force, thanks to their old foe, Prior John de Monte Martini. From a meeting with King Edward II himself to the sheriff's tournament with its glittering prize, the final, fatal, showdown fast approaches for the legendary Wolf's Head.

Matilda, Lady of Flanders, Duchess of Normandy, rules as Regent of Normandy for her husband, Duke William. William has won the Battle of Hastings, but Saxon England does not wish to surrender to him as King. As William sets England to flame, Matilda waits in Normandy for the time to come when she can claim her crown. Through bloodshed, battle, and struggle will England be won, but even as Matilda rejoices for her new power, a prophecy is spoken, linking the fates of her children to the wailing voices and horrific images in dreams which come to haunt her.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2023 'Epic and marvellously entertaining... There's a furious energy to the novel, which constantly moves forward even as it looks sorrowfully back' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Magnificent... I want to press a copy on everyone I know' NIGELLA LAWSON...

Twenty years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their father and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people starving in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret – the witch’s grimoire, secreted away and whispering in Greta’s ear for the past two decades, and the recipe inside that makes the best gingerbread you’ve ever tasted. As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat.

After winning his freedom in Rise of the Wolf, Robin - with his faithful lieutenant John Little at his side - now spends his days travelling around northern England dispensing King Edward II's justice. When a new band of outlaws appears in Barnsdale, Sheriff Henry de Faucumberg sends Robin and John to deal with them.

After viciously assaulting a corrupt but powerful clergyman Robin Hood flees the only home he has ever known in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Becoming a member of a notorious band of outlaws, Hood and his new companions - including John Little and Will Scaflock - hide out in the great forests of Barnsdale, fighting for their very existence as the law hunts them down like animals. When they are betrayed, and their harsh lives become even more unbearable, the band of friends seeks bloody vengeance.