Virgin Earth by Philippa Gregory is the sequel to the book Earthly Joys, which I’ve previously reviewed. Virgin Earth follows John Tradescant the younger, son of the first celebrity gardener, as he navigates a changing world where men are starting to question the hierarchy of that places the king as a divinity just below God & stops them from worshiping God directly but forces them into prayer lead by a priest.
With King Charles I on the throne with a Papist (Roman Catholic) wife, there is tension in the country. The couple are frivolous with money, draining the country of it’s resources & taxing the poorest of people to their deaths. The rich were getting richer & the poor were getting poorer. The people had had enough.
Fed up of the injustice & poverty, free thinking men were growing in numbers against the king. Soon the country found itself in Civil war & families who had lived quietly were being called to arms for one side or the other (sometimes both!). No one was safe from the fighting. John Tradescant, the king’s gardener found himself knowing that he would be called to the king’s army. He felt unable to stand with a king who was completely void of any awareness of the mood of his subjects & the poverty he was causing, driven by a birth right to do as he pleased. Unwilling to take arms against his fellow countrymen purely because they wanted rights & a decent quality of life, Tradescant sets sail for the family’s plot of land in Virginia, leaving behind his second wife, daughter and young son.
All is not well in Virginia & Tradescant struggles to stay alive on his remote plot of land. A blast from the past comes to rescue him & he finds himself living with the Powhatan, the native American people who take him in as a member of the tribe. Tradescant may have avoided civil war, but he is faced with a similar predicament in Virginia. The Planters want to drive the Powhatan further & further from their lands & the Powhatan are ready to make a stand. Trades cant’s loyalties are tested when must decide whether to fight against his own people with the Powhatan for their right to live freely in their own country.
Back in England, King Charles I is on the run, making alliances with his enemies, the Scottish & fighting against his own people. Despite my knowing the history & the king’s battles, capture, trial & execution, Gregory sets the scene in such a way that the reader is transfixed, where they otherwise could so easily be bored by the retelling of historical events. This is one of Gregory’s greatest talents in my opinion.
I thoroughly enjoyed Virgin Earth as a sequel to Earthly Joys. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it quite as much if I hadn’t read Earthly Joys first, as Tradescant’s father & first wife are both referenced quite a bit, so you would loose some of the back story if you you haven’t read Earthly Joys first. I think my Mum might’ve started with Virgin Earth, which would explain why she didn’t get on with it as much as other Philippa Gregory novels.
Have you read either of the Tradescant novels? Which is your favourite book by Philippa Gregory?
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