The Forest Family

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is also the
author of The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek, and
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Hom

The Forest Family is an unusual, an exceptional book that moves me to
search for superlatives. It is a tale of a very real family that lives
in a forest in Yorkshire and endures hardship over a span of some 10
years. At the same time, it is built on an intricate web of myth,
legend, and fairy tales. Reality and fantasy form a seamless web.

Deep in an ancient forest live Sylvania, her woodcutter husband,
Bernardo, and their small daughters, Rosy and Daisy. One day, the king
calls for soldiers for his foreign wars, and Bernardo must enlist. When
he returns, years later, he is unrecognizable in character and
appearance, and he soon departs again for a corrupt life in the town.

Before and after his return, wife and daughters spend their time
learning how to glean precious plants from the forest. Their small house
becomes an apothecary shop. Meanwhile, Sylvania never stops hunting for
a cure for her husband, whose changed disposition is symbolized by the
poisonous barb that struck him near his heart on the battlefield.

Torontonian Joan Bodger is a writer, storyteller, and Gestalt
therapist. Among the many tales she incorporates in her story is one of
the faithful widow Ruth of Moab, which is cleverly reset in France and
Yorkshire. In another, Sylvania encounters the Green Knight of medieval
legend, who advises her (after she has accomplished a nearly impossible
task) to “learn to live with what you’ve got.”

The striking black-and-white images of Mark Lang—painter,
illustrator, and graphic designer—seem to blend the techniques of
engraving, etching, woodcuts, and drawing. Full-page images weave
together events of an entire chapter. Miniatures nestle into various
pages of text, like the one of a crow clutching a precious stone in one
claw. Bodger and Lang make a great team. The Forest Family is very
highly recommended for imaginative readers of all ages.