Virgin Earth
4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by purplerosebud from Petersfield, Hampshire United Kingdom on Sunday, August 10, 2008
This is a terrific, free-standing sequel to the historical bestseller "Earthly Joys", as John Tradescant, the Younger witnesses the English Civil War and its aftermath from his position as royal gardener. John Tradescant, the Younger has inherited his father's unique collection of plants along with his unerring ability to nurture them. But as gardener to Charles I, he confronts an unbearable dilemma when England descends into Civil War. Fleeing from the chaos, John travels to the Royalist colony of Virginia in America. But the virgin land is not uninhabited. John's plant hunting brings him to live with the native people, and he learns to love and respect their way of life just as it is threatened by the colonial settlers. In the new world and the old, the established order is breaking down and every family has to find its own way of surviving. For the Tradescants, through the upheavals of the Commonwealth and the Restoration, this means consolidating their reputations as the greatest gardeners in the country.
Journal Entry 2 by purplerosebud from Petersfield, Hampshire United Kingdom on Sunday, August 10, 2008
I'm sending this off as a surprise RABCK to a BC friend as I've seen it on their wish list. I hope you still want it if not I know you will find a release spot for it.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
What a lovely surprise!! Thank you PurpleRosebud :o) Another book on my wishlist that has graced my doormat and will be read eagerly when it reaches the top of Mt TBR. Indeed our reading tastes do seem very similiar so I will have to check if I've got any books waiting TBR that I can move up the pile and send to you in return! This will also spend a few weeks with my MIL (who loves Philippa Gregory books and gardening so I know will love this book) before I move it on.
All I can say is WOW!!! I LOVED this book! I thought the first book, Earthly Joys, was great but I think this was even better. I couldn't help but become completely engrossed in the lives and times described in the book. It's one thing to read a compelling story of family and lifestyle but to put that in the historical context so seamlessly certainly adds to the drama. Definitely a book (together with Earthly Joys) that I would recommend and I have already purchased duplicate copies to give as Christmas pressies this year. Thanks so much for sharing this book with me and I'll make sure to find it a new home very soon.
Released 15 yrs ago (3/17/2009 UTC) at By Mail, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
On the way to a fellow Philippa Gregory fan. Enjoy!
On the way to a fellow Philippa Gregory fan. Enjoy!
It arrived on my doormat with a satisfying thud this morning! I have a few books to read ahead of it and one of them is a thickie, as is my current read, but I will try not to hold this one up from its travels for too long.
Many thanks to KathyS for passing it on and thanks to PurpleRosebud for the original release. I know this is going to be a good one.
Many thanks to KathyS for passing it on and thanks to PurpleRosebud for the original release. I know this is going to be a good one.
I can only echo Kathy's "WOW!!! I LOVED this book!" At first I didn't find J a very appealing character, but he did improve and the end of the book was particularly moving.
The book covers a period of history about which I am really rather ignorant so it was quite an instructive read.
I hope to find another reader who will love this book.
The book covers a period of history about which I am really rather ignorant so it was quite an instructive read.
I hope to find another reader who will love this book.
Journal Entry 8 by jalna at A fellow BookCrosser, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Journal Entry 9 by Jive-Monster from -- Somewhere in Derbyshire🤷‍♂️, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Friday, October 2, 2009
Was waiting for me when I arrived home from my holiday.
Was a welcome distraction to what was a traumatic event - we had just arrived back off a holiday (as I said), but in the first week of that holiday - our cat had to be put to sleep and it was the first time back in the house since then and without him :o(
Thank you very much Jalna - greatly appreciated!
Was a welcome distraction to what was a traumatic event - we had just arrived back off a holiday (as I said), but in the first week of that holiday - our cat had to be put to sleep and it was the first time back in the house since then and without him :o(
Thank you very much Jalna - greatly appreciated!
Journal Entry 10 by Jive-Monster at -- Somewhere in Derbyshire🤷‍♂️, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Friday, July 1, 2011
I can't be any more eloquent or descriptive of this book than purplerosebud and I agree with all that has been said. It is a fantastically engrossing read, however, I did enjoy Earthly Joys more than this one. Sometimes I did despair of Tradescant the Younger - the indecisiveness of him, I wanted to shake him!!!
Thank you, Jalna, for sending it on to me 2 years ago and apologies in my tardiness in reading it!!
Thank you, Jalna, for sending it on to me 2 years ago and apologies in my tardiness in reading it!!