Title:
Earthly Joys
Author:
Philippa Gregory
Read
by: David Rintoul
Publisher:
Simon & Schuster
Length:
Approximately 17 hours and 46 minutes
Source:
Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.
Thank-you!
John
Trandescant is the gardener for Lord Robert Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I’s trusted
advisor. John takes great pleasure in
creating and maintaining beautiful gardens and likes being a man that Earl
Cecil is trust. After Queen Elizabeth’s death, James I of
Scotland comes to rule over England.
What changes will he make? John
may not always agree with how things are run, but he knows his place in the
proper order of the world. John marries,
has a son, and continues his adventures around the world looking for perfect
plant specimens. After Lord Cecil’s
death, he goes through a series of new masters until one, Lord Buckingham,
changes his life forever. Will John be
able to continue with his life as he has lived it for the previous sixty years?
I
really enjoyed this book, except for my one woe with the story line in the
spoiler below. I really loved seeing
this time period through a gardener’s eyes.
I thought it was wonderful that he was in fact a real person and a famous
gardener. I love the description of the
amazing gardens that he put together and the plants he discovered around the
world. I also loved the descriptions of
the tulip speculation in Holland.
I
really like how John’s story and that of his family paralleled British history
at the time. John is loyal to his master
and his King, but his faith is shattered after going to war and seeing the
mistakes that his master makes that kill innocent men. Do the lords and kings of England deserve the
blind love and devotion of the people? The novel builds toward the English Civil war
but ends before its start. I literally
scream “NOOOOOOO!” when this audiobook ended as I wanted to learn more about
the next generation of the Trandescant family and where history would take
them. I was excited to see there is another
book after this one and I can’t wait until it is out on audiobook.
SPOILER
ALERT
I
had a hard time with John and Lord Buckingham’s relationship. On one hand, John seemed to scorn the
lifestyle at court, but then the book implies that Lord Buckingham was John’s
one true love. That seemed strange to me
as one of the best parts of the book to me was John realizing he has been used
by Buckingham on the boat after the great defeat to show that Buckingham still
had someone who loved him. Then after their return to England, Buckingham
carelessly threw him aside. This
represented how the nobility used the working class and did not care about
them.
SPOILER
END
David
Rintoul is a fabulous narrator. He had a
unique voice for each character and acted out the parts. I really appreciate and enjoy that in an
audiobook narrator.
Overall,
Earthly Joys was a riveting novel set during the Stuart era in England starring
a gardener who was a great man during a fascinating time in history.
