Children of the New Forest - Book 15

Children of the New Forest is my second book by author Frederick Marryat and my second book in the April Children's Literature Challenge.  Marryat wrote this back in 1847 and it was his last book before he died.

The story is set 200 years before in 1647, when Cromwell and the Roundheads are waging civil war against King Charles I.  The children of the title are the offspring of a nobleman and officer who is killed in battle fighting for the king.  The Roundheads eventually burn his estate down, thinking they've also burned to death his four children, Edward, Humphrey, Alice and Edith.  The novel is mostly about Edward who is 15 at the opening of the story.  The children survive because a faithful and kindly forester rescues them,  takes them in to his cottage deep in the forest, and refers to them as his grandchildren.  They have to learn to work and cook for themselves to survive.

The storyline is quite intricate and interesting.  Lots of things happen.  The children are always brave, loving, clever and virtuous.  The dialogue, however, is wooden and unrealistic.  Even though that part was a bit heavy handed, the constant moving of the plot with all the adventures and twists and turns, kept me reading enthusiastically anyway.  There is lots of clever problem-solving by the children, plus there are robbers, Gipsies, soldiers, wild bulls to outsmart, wild ponies to capture, gun battles and love interests.

I do think that the Boxcar Children series was partly inspired by this book!  Remember those kids had a dog named Watch?  Well, there's a dog named Watch in this book too.  And there are four children who are awfully independent and resourceful.  Of course Children of the New Forest is a Victorian novel, not a 20th century children's book series, but it does have the claim of being the first novel written intentionally for children which I think explains its very didactic tone.

The book was extremely popular for many decades. BBC has made several mini-series out of it (here's a link to a movie, made in 1998) though I have not seen any of them.

For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.