Virgin Earth: A Novel (Earthly Joys) | Philippa Gregory

Virgin Earth: A Novel (Earthly Joys) | Philippa Gregory | Virgin Earth

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Virgin Earth: A No...

	Virgin Earth: A Novel (Earthly Joys) Philippa Gregory Touchstone, 2006 - 672 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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As England descends into civil war, John Tradescant the Younger, gardener to King Charles I, finds his loyalties in question, his status an ever-growing danger to his family. Fearing royal defeat and determined to avoid serving the rebels, John escapes to the royalist colony of Virginia, a land bursting with fertility that stirs his passion for botany. Only the native American peoples understand the forest, and John is drawn to their way of life just as they come into fatal conflict with the colonial settlers. Torn between his loyalty to his country and family and his love for a Powhatan girl who embodies the freedom he seeks, John has to find himself before he is prepared to choose his direction in the virgin land.In this enthralling, freestanding sequel to Earthly Joys, Gregory combines a wealth of gardening knowledge with a haunting love story that spans two continents and two cultures, making Virgin Earth a tour de force of revolutionary politics and passionate characters.

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Beautiful Prose, Thrilling Plot

I wasn't really expecting to become a big fan of Philippa Gregory, but in the past couple years, I have become a huge fan. This book, the stand-alone sequel to Earthly Joys, follows the son of John Tradescant, our first book's narrator, and gives us another generation's perspective. Different from his father (for better or for worse, he's always conflicted), John is never sure whether he wants to be in England or the new-found America, and knows he doesn't agree with the political strife of the day, but isn't sure who he should believe are "the good guys," trying to rectify the economy. Giving dazzling perspective to both continents, peppering with the perfect amount of historical detail, real characters (I must confess I search Wikipedia about characters after I finish reading her books!) sneaking in subtle sex... this is what Gregory does best. Her descriptions of flora in both lands are again what makes these books unique in her series- gorgeous language that has me itching to plant something pretty in the yard.

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Virgin Earth

Virgin Earth, the sequel to Earthly Paradise by Philippa Gregory is every bit as good as the first book. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction. I liked these because the story is told in the first book through the eyes and life of the court gardener, and his son in the second book, and includes the varieties of plants and flowers for which they are always seeking while telling the good and bad events of the times in England and America.

If only history books read like this

Ms. Gregory has a fabulous talent for making history come alive. After reading each of her books, I've felt connected with that historical period because the characters became real people to me. In this story, the earliest days of Colonial America are presented through the protagonist's eyes. Ms. Gregory's clear unblinking view of life encountered by early settlers feels the most authentic of any I've read. Many early inhabitants, like her protagonist, John Tradescant, probably had little or no experience with real wilderness. Their first exposure to life in the colonies was further complicated by romantic views they'd held of the bountiful new world. The lofty dreams were quickly crushed by the harshness encountered--and all but the strongest people were too. While John found romance in his time there, it was one born of desperation. He was not the man his father was and struggled to meet goals that didn't entirely suit him. Even in England, through the tumultuous period of the time, one gets the sense of the difficult and compromising complexity of living near or at court as John deals with a more civilized and better-dressed harshness.

Many books romanticize royal life; Ms. Gregory's don't. She does a marvelous job of immersing the reader into the reality of that world. My only criticism of this book is that the ending is a bit weak. Still, it's well worth the read.

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I love Phillippa Gregory

Since i finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl, i have become obsessed with Ms. Gregory's books. This is the 6th book of hers that i have read (all in order). I don't know what i am going to do when i have finished all of her books.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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