The Story of the Forest: 'Magnificent... I want to press a copy on everyone I know' Nigella Lawson

In 1913, Mina, a young girl, meets a gang of rowdy young men with revolution on their minds in the forest on the edge of the Baltic Sea. This adventure leads to flight, emigration, and a new land, a new language, and the pursuit of idealism or happiness in Liverpool. The Story of the Forest is a story about myths and memory, and how families adapt to survive, full of humor and wisdom.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 11 May 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2023




Epic and marvellously entertaining, there's a furious energy to the novel that constantly moves forward even as it looks sorrowfully back. The Financial Times describes it as "magnificent," while Nigella Lawson calls it "epic, magnificent, beautiful," and Philipa Perry praises its "jewel-like clarity." Richard Coles praises the "exquisite writing" and the "triumphant, elegant ending." The Mail on Sunday calls it an "intelligent family saga," ambitious and moving and funny.




It's 1913, and a young, carefree, and recklessly innocent girl, Mina, ventures into the forest on the edge of the Baltic Sea and meets a gang of rowdy young men with revolution on their minds. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it's life. The adventure leads to flight, emigration, and a new land, a new language, and the pursuit of idealism or happiness—in Liverpool. But what of the stories from the old country? How do they shape and form the next generations who have heard the well-worn tales?




From the flour mills of Latvia to Liverpool suburbia to post-war Soho, The Story of the Forest is about myths and memory and about how families adapt in order to survive. It is a story full of the humor and wisdom we have come to relish from this wonderful writer.

Weight: 488g
Dimension: 507 x 240 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349014104