The Story of the Forest: Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2023

Product Information

Like all good stories, it teems with false starts, mysterious clues and dead ends... Grant's particular gift is for the arresting scene that blends menace with comedy Grant grew up in Liverpool and she summons it beautifully, sharp observation tempered with humour and tenderness Linda Grant began her writing career as a journalist and didn’t publish her first novel until she was in her 40s. Since then, her novels have won major literary prizes and her latest, The Story of the Forest, was shortlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. The novel is a powerful reminder of the many reasons people move, the difficulties of integrating in a new environment, and how generational memories shape our identities. What an amazing novel... an epic, fascinating and moving story. The sections set in Liverpool really spoke to me having grown up there, but I loved the London chapters. Vivid storytelling with complex and colourful characters. I thought it was spectacular.' - David Morrissey

So why didn't I give it five stars? Well, all the female characters are strong, admirable women but I somehow yearned for a male character I could really like. Too many nebbishes... Joan Bakewell A major achievement... as fine as anything Linda Grant has written... maybe excelling them all Family stories can be heartwarming and sweet. However, usually this is because they’re part of your history and they fondly remind you of your ancestors. Someone else’s story isn’t always as interesting. It is assumed that the plane is predestined to arrive in Germany, because the label on the plane resembles the logo for the German airline "Lufthansa". In the olden times, in the old country of Latvia, a girl walks out of the city into the forest to gather mushrooms in a basket, like a child in a fairy tale.After exploring much of the lab, the player finds the Resurrection Obelisk, with the dead Timmy inside. The obelisk/machine prompts him for a sacrifice when Timmy is hooked to an operating table.

What an amazing novel.....an epic, fascinating and moving story. The sections set in Liverpool really spoke to me having grown up there, but I loved the London chapters. Vivid storytelling with complex and colourful characters. I thought it was spectacular. This was I felt a stronger book – and interestingly one which has the idea of storytelling at its heart: in this case one which tells, with a lightness of touch and brevity of style, the story of much of the 20th Century from the viewpoint of a family of Jewish emigres to Liverpool. The travel via England but their onwards passage to America is stalled (and then postponed indefinitely) by pecuniary and global circumstances (Jossel has no money and war breaks out) – note that the ideas of thwarted ambitions, of uncompleted or failed journeys and of the passage of time turning interim half-hearted states at odds with an ultimate goal into permanent ones, are all ones that recur across the novel. The story of the Mendels, as they travel from Riga to England and realise that this is not just a staging post on the way to their goal of America but the place where they must make their new lives, has some commonality with the journey of my maternal grandparents and the experience of immigrant arrival and gradual assimilation resonates with me. The characters are vivid and very credible. I liked Mina's bossy sister-in-law Lia whose practical approach got the family safely settled and later led them on to life in the suburbs, a process beautifully depicted. Their experiences in business and Mina's work in a munitions factory are also very well drawn.

Linda Grant was born in Liverpool on 15 February 1951, the child of Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants. She was educated at the Belvedere School (GDST), read English at the University of York, completed an M.A. in English at MacMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario and did further post-graduate studies at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, where she lived from 1977 to 1984. He remembered Vladimir Propp and the lecture in London to which he had enticed his beautiful niece. The lecturer had spoken at great length about the structure of stories. But I also have a story, he thought. He had told it several times to his handlers. Why here, they had asked him, and why now? To which there was no answer besides, 'Once I lived with my brothers and sisters in a good merchant's house in Riga not far from the port, and one day my little sister went out to the forest and our family was undone?

Crossing the sky bridge through the falling flowers of the dome, visitors descend down the passageway through a vast interactive forest inhabited by the animals of Singapore. As visitors proceed, the forest changes from morning to night. The forest also changes in accordance with the dry and wet seasons of Singapore. The Vault, found at the bottom of the sinkhole, can be opened with the keycard. It leads to the research lab. The book includes a timeline of the Forest's past plus themed sections covering significant parts of its history:The aim of the book was to provide a high-quality resource for schools in the area to use when studying local history. Forest teachers will be delighted that each local primary is being given 10 free copies. Additional books are being given to secondaries and Forest libraries too. I devoured The Story of the Forest, an engrossing family saga that spans Latvia to Liverpool and the best part of a century... a truly terrific book - with a beautiful cover

Mina's story of her forest experience is told and retold through the years, including one cinematic retelling. It is the foundation story of this family, for, if it hadn't happened, they would not have existed. And at the end Mina's great-granddaughter encounters the story in yet another way, providing a perfect ending to the book.

The Story of the Forest” by Linda Grant is a captivating novel that spans across the 20th century, exploring the lives of a Jewish family and their journey of assimilation. The book begins in 1913 with a young girl venturing into the forest, setting the stage for a tale that is both intimate and expansive. Throughout the novel, Grant masterfully weaves together the individual stories of family members, each with their unique experiences and challenges.