Cradock Nowell: A Tale of the New Forest. Vol. 1 (of 3)

The novel traces the fortunes of an old Hampshire family whose ancestral privileges in the New Forest come under strain as shifting authorities and local rivalries threaten their estate. Rural customs, contested rights of pannage and timber, and household tensions unfold around Sir Cradock Nowell, his spirited twin sons, a stern gypsy woman who issues an ominous rebuke, and a kindly, bookish rector who tends the parish. Mixtures of childhood mischief, legal and social maneuvering, and close observations of landscape and character create a pastoral drama that examines inheritance, community obligations, superstition, and the pressures of change on traditional life.