Earthly Joys By Philippa Gregory

If you read my 2016 Reading List, you’ll know that last year I got back into reading having avoided it since I graduated in 2010. One of the books on my reading list for 2016 is JRR Tolkein’s The Silmarillion, but I’ve had to abandon it. I tried really, really hard to work through this book, but the concentration I need for the complexity of the text isn’t possible with the level of pain & fatigue I’m currently experiencing. I didn’t realise this until I was chatting to my Nanna about books & reading before bed to help me get to sleep. She suggested something lighter for reading before bed so I looked at my bookcase & picked up Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory.

I’ve been a long time fan of Philippa Gregory’s, I love the time periods she writes about & love her style. My hubby, Dan, bought me this book & the following novel, Virgin Earth for my birthday one year, but I’ve put off reading it because my Mum said she didn’t enjoy it. Mum is also a lover of Philippa Gregory’s books so I took her word for it not being great & avoided it. Until last week!

Despite being one of Philippa Gregory’s lesser known works, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Virgin Earth. It’s a story of a gardener who serves Sir Robert Cecil during the reign or Queen Elizabeth I, then George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham in the reign of King James I and finally King Charles I himself. As with all of her historical novels, you really get a sense of the political & social issues faced by the people of England in the Elizabethan & Stuart periods.

One of the things that really appealed to me about this book was that it follows the life of the main character, John Tradescant, from his days as a young man right through until his old age. His marriage to Elizabeth, the birth of his son, his travels both to find rare plants to bring back to England & to fight in France. We see his son J grow up, marry & have children of his own. Earthly Joys takes you through the legacy this incredible man leaves behind in the form of the rare & beautiful plants that he lovingly selected from foreign lands, brought home to England & cultivated. Like all Philippa Gregory’s stories features real people & real events, filled out by an interesting storyline & Earthly Joys is the tale of the first celebrity gardener! I don’t think you need to have a particular liking for gardening to appreciate the story, particularly if you’re into period literature. An interest in gardening will just heighten the power of the book for you, being able to understand the passion Tradescant has for his garden, above all else.

The overwhelming loyalty of John Tradescant was developed well in the story. The juxtaposition between this & the changing thoughts of the English people caused by widespread plague, poverty & the overzealous spending & frivolity of the court was really well executed. John & his son J have very different views on their duty, particularly in relation to the king. I found this part of the storyline interesting. It depicts the shift in thought that ultimately lead to Civil War & the trial & execution of Charles I very well.

I felt invested in this family as characters, which to me is so important in a book. I cried when J’s wife Jane died! Interestingly, after the death of J’s wife Jane, while his son is travelling to the family plot of land in Virginia, John arranges a new companion for his son. The book finishes while J is still abroad & I’m on tenterhooks to find out how he reacts to his father’s arranged marriage proposal in the follow up book, Virgin Earth.

Full of passion, sex (from two characters you wouldn’t expect!), intrigue, politics & an assassination, this book is not to be missed!

Have you read Earthly Joys? What did you think of it?

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