It's 1913 and a young, carefree and recklessly innocent girl, Mina, goes out 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.'Epic and marvellously entertaining' Financial Times'A perfect work of art and craft and such a good story... I felt I was living it. I couldn't put it down' Philippa Perry'Jewel-like clarity... exceptional' Reverend Richard Coles'Such an intelligent family saga, ambitious and moving and funny too... I loved it' Tessa Hadley