The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat

The ending paragraph or so is quite an irritating dry summary. Now I found the story surprisingly short on everything I was more interested in, in the later part of the book - how exactly Edward gets on in the fighting, for example, and a more satisfying way of bringing all the characters together at the end. I suppose I didn't really care about whether the characters were male or female.

Alice and Edith are somewhat non-characters - indeed, so is Patience, actually - so I'm surprised I found so much to relate to, as a child. I remember being drawn in by the characters, though - some of them are a little too good to be true, but Edward is at least a bit of an idiot sometimes, overly impetuous and jumping to conclusions. Historical fiction is a turn-off in itself for some people. It isn't really a very easily accessible text in some respects: rather biased, sometimes dry, rather didactic. I decided to reread it after I came across a reference to it in one of the books I read for Introduction to Children's Literature.

I had that reaction to a lot of children's books, and I can't quite find the enchantment again in this one, which makes me sad. I read it over and over again, until the covers fell off my copy. When I first read this, I adored this and thought it was pretty much perfection. His novels of adventure on the high seas would inspire countless storytellers, including Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and Joseph Conrad. He frequently based his stories on his own experiences and earned a reputation as a member of Charles Dickens’ influential literary circle. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1830 to pursue a career as a professional writer, producing nautical novels and finding success with Mr. After the war, he worked as an inventor and artist, patenting a new lifeboat and making a famous sketch of Napoleon on his deathbed in Saint Helena. On the HMS Spartan, he fought in the War of 1812 and participated in raids on New England.

Throughout his naval career, he served on several ships and was present at battles against the French fleet off the coast of Spain. He joined the Royal Navy in 1806 as a midshipman on the HMS Imperieuse, serving under Lord Cochrane. Born in London, Marryat was raised in a prominent merchant family by Joseph Marryat, a member of Parliament, and his American wife Charlotte. Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) was an English naval officer and novelist.

The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat