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16th out of 25 books
—
92 voters
Earthly Joys (Earthly Joys #1)
by
Philippa Gregory (Goodreads Author)
Whether he is nurturing a single rare seedling into a blossoming tree or planning acres of exquisitely conceived royal gardens, John Tradescant's fame and skill as a gardener are unsurpassed in seventeenth-century England. But it is Tradescant's clear-sighted honesty and loyalty that make him an invaluable servant, and in his role as informal confidant during garden stroll...more
Paperback, 516 pages
Published
May 24th 2005
by Touchstone
(first published 1998)
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The story is set just prior to the English civil war in the reigns of Charles I & his son James I (who were both led astray by the Duke of Buckingham). Their derelict management of the wealth the first Tudors had amassed for the throne was told from the point of view of the gardener John Tradescant.
Tradescant is a botanist as well as a gardener and friend to Lord Cecil Elizabeth's adviser who arraigned the ascension of King James of Scotland to the Tudor throne. Tradescant is simply loyal an...more
Tradescant is a botanist as well as a gardener and friend to Lord Cecil Elizabeth's adviser who arraigned the ascension of King James of Scotland to the Tudor throne. Tradescant is simply loyal an...more
I liked this book, and learned quite a bit about King James's court, King Charles, and the Duke of Buckingham. Further research told me that the main character of this book was, in fact a real person, and this account was true. I think she took a few more liberties with the writing of this book than some of the others. This was probably because John Tradescent was a Gardener and had a lot less recorded about him than royalty and nobels did. This book discusses homosexual behaviors in the courts...more
I felt the story was compelling; it was easy for me to want to read more. The characters were complex and learned and changed as they grew. It also inspired me to do more with my garden! It reminded me once again how much we take tulips for granted...
I was very interested in the history behind it. Most of the characters are real, I understand. Was the main character a real person? This is a period of time I know less about than other periods (Elizabethan, for example, or Georgian and later), so...more
I was very interested in the history behind it. Most of the characters are real, I understand. Was the main character a real person? This is a period of time I know less about than other periods (Elizabethan, for example, or Georgian and later), so...more
It's been several years since I read this book so I've forgotten a number of the details. I remember that it concerns a gardener to King James I of England, John Tradescant. I also remember that I liked it a lot, better than any of the other novels by Philippa Gregory that I've read. The characters, especially the main character of John Tradescant, were very well-realized and convincing. In fact, I was surprised to find that he wasn't a real person. I hoped there was a sequel. At the time I read...more
I think partly I enjoy this book because I was obsessed with My Secret Garden as a kid, the description of spring and nature of this release from the imprisonment of human life. The idea in Earthly Joys that John Tradescant will live forever through his plants is a reference point. It's a large book, and some of it is repetitive. On page 71 the smell of John's new born son is referenced, but that must be an error because John doesn't have a sense of smell, he's a gardener through his eyes and he...more
I read the sequel first and this one second, but I still enjoyed this story very much, and having developed some foreknowledge of the characters didn't leave me feeling that I always knew what was coming, even if I did to a large degree - especially as I neared the end of the book. Still, given the do-over, I would read them in sequence, I think.
My mom read Virgin Earth after I did, and she was interested to learn that there was a book that preceded it. I am a little wary of passing it on to he...more
My mom read Virgin Earth after I did, and she was interested to learn that there was a book that preceded it. I am a little wary of passing it on to he...more
This is Philippa Gregory’s usual well written story of English royalty and the politics, intrigue, deception and corruption of 17th century England. King James is newly crowned the King of England and he has surrounded himself with loyal trusted advisors such as Cecil Roberts and the Duke of Buckingham. The story is told from the point of view of John Tradescant, the gardener for these men. John’s skill as a gardener catches the attention of the powerful men of England who want to create a showc...more
I wouldn’t say “if you aren’t into gardening, don’t get this,” but you WILL appreciate it a lot more if you have an inkling of gardening and plants. It’s the story of a very famous – and one of the first “celebrity” gardeners, John Tradescant who was a gardener to many famous people during the reign of three monarchs, Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I.
She paints a very believable picture of John, his family and his life. John is a man who must belong to a master, that’s how his life has always...more
She paints a very believable picture of John, his family and his life. John is a man who must belong to a master, that’s how his life has always...more
Very interesting story about a gifted gardener to several dukes who were the power behind the thrones of King James I and Charles I. 1603-1638. He was a loyal confidant and an invaluable sevant at a time when rebellion against the unjust kings was fast approaching.
I first tried The Other Boleyn Girl but lost interest after 1/3 done (I knew how it ended).
Though not as skilled as Gabaldon, Gregory does a pretty good job here.
I need to ask Alana if she learned about the Dutch tulip speculations and...more
I first tried The Other Boleyn Girl but lost interest after 1/3 done (I knew how it ended).
Though not as skilled as Gabaldon, Gregory does a pretty good job here.
I need to ask Alana if she learned about the Dutch tulip speculations and...more
This is the story of a very famous gardener, John Tradescant who was a gardener to some famous people during the reign of James I and Charles I.
John is in the employ of Robert Cecil, building the gardens of Hatfield House and he is very close – a confidante and friend – to the great man. John loves travelling the world in search of new species of plants. After Cecil dies, John moves around from master to master until he is ordered to the new and fabulous estate of George Villiers – first Duke of...more
John is in the employ of Robert Cecil, building the gardens of Hatfield House and he is very close – a confidante and friend – to the great man. John loves travelling the world in search of new species of plants. After Cecil dies, John moves around from master to master until he is ordered to the new and fabulous estate of George Villiers – first Duke of...more
I just finished this book by Philippa Gregory. In my opinion it was not her best work. My favorite of hers would be "The Other Boleyn Girl". However, the theme was very interesting. The book is based on the story of a head gardener for the king Charles I of England and previously to several other important historical figures such as the Duke of Buckingham and Sir Robert Cecil. He was a most respected gardener who was also a botanist and traveller and who introduced many species of plants, trees...more
Quite different than other Phillipa Gregory books I have read and I would NOT recommend this to the typical Phillipa Gregory fan.
This book is told from a man's perspective (which, in and of itself is quite different). This man is a gardener for first Sir Robert Cecil when he is adviser to Queen Elizabeth's successor King James I, then to the Duke of Buckingham, adviser and lover of the King.
While the main character John Tradescant loves his wife and child, his first allegiance is always to his '...more
This book is told from a man's perspective (which, in and of itself is quite different). This man is a gardener for first Sir Robert Cecil when he is adviser to Queen Elizabeth's successor King James I, then to the Duke of Buckingham, adviser and lover of the King.
While the main character John Tradescant loves his wife and child, his first allegiance is always to his '...more
Actually detested the book. Slow, very little to like about any of the characters. Quit reading half way through and then skipped extremely quickly to see what happened at the end. Disgusting, vulgar, boring, nothing at all to make it worth your time.
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I enjoyed this book a lot and will try to read the sequel. The plot follows the life of a master gardener in England in the 1600s. The background is the political and social turmoil of the time, while the main characters spend much of their time creating beautiful havens for the wealthy. Lots of information about the sources of many common and rare flowering and fruiting plants and trees.
The characters are not the focus, though they are developed and do undergo the changes necessary to meet thei...more
The characters are not the focus, though they are developed and do undergo the changes necessary to meet thei...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this story - the second novel featuring the Duke of Buckingham that I've read within a month! I found Gregory's prose easy to read, her assuredness in her historical detail very gratifying, and her protagonists - all of them - highly sympathetic (but most particularly John Tradescant the elder, the gardener and a man's man in every sense of the word). The battle scenes were sufficiently repulsive without being actually sickening. I've yet to find many novels about gay men (b...more
This book is told from a man's perspective (which, in and of itself is quite different). This man is a gardener for first Sir Robert Cecil when he is adviser to Queen Elizabeth's successor King James I, then to the Duke of Buckingham, adviser and lover of the King.
I loved reading about the creation of the gardens which spanned the lifetime of the main character. It inspired me to get out into my own garden. I detested reading about the love affair between the gardner and the King. Too much deta...more
I loved reading about the creation of the gardens which spanned the lifetime of the main character. It inspired me to get out into my own garden. I detested reading about the love affair between the gardner and the King. Too much deta...more
I so enjoyed all the other Philippa Gregory books I've read that I didn't think twice about picking this one up at the book store on my last visit. Wish I had. I couldn't discern much redeemable about the main characters, which made their uncomfortable and dissonant story-lines that much more so. There was some shocking sexual material, which probably didn't help from my point of view, but what really got me was that it seemed to be shocking for no literary reason. I didn't see how including it...more
One of the main lessons to grasp from this novel is the humble and down-to-nature of a "simple" gardner John, whom is admired and actually respected by the court. After that, this novel is about as interesting as watching seeds grow. Hey, that isn't an insult! I have a garden and love watching my babies bud! But in all seriousness, this novel fails to grasp the usual Gregory charm known to her fans. This may be because of the portrayal of a less minor character or perhaps she has less knowledge...more
I like the adventure and at-home travel books written by authors such as Philippa Gregory. Time back to the 17th century and see the beautiful gardens; the truth live charactors such as John Tradescant, Sir Robert Cecil, George Villiers and Prince Charles as they weave their loves among the roses and tulips:
"Hester went quickly to the bed, her skirts brushing the banks of flowers, pollen and perfume swirling like ground mist as she ran to him, but by the time she touched his hand the pulse had s...more
"Hester went quickly to the bed, her skirts brushing the banks of flowers, pollen and perfume swirling like ground mist as she ran to him, but by the time she touched his hand the pulse had s...more
I finished reading it, but that's about the nicest thing I can say. It felt like the story wasn't going anywhere for the first 2/3 of the book. A lack of plot might be forgivable if the writing was gorgeous (it isn't) or if the book had some message about the something of greater significance than one guy's life (it doesn't). Add to that the distasteful bits: John's first sexual encounter with his wife gets 1 sentence (which is about right), and his first sexual encounter with Buckingham gets 3...more
Pleasant, fast read in an interesting historical period. I'm fond of gardening and can understand the pull of just staring at a plant or planning a garden. The secondary characters came alive in a few broad strokes but John, our protagonist, was never quite as gripping. He was always too loyal, too steady, too devoted, and too good at things that often had nothing to do with gardening to seem fully human. Of course his devotion is his tragic flaw but Gregory constantly pulls back from making it...more
It seems that Philippa Gregory writes her male characters better than her females. By that, I mean I enjoyed "Earthly Joys" much more than any of her Tudors/War of the Roses novels, because the hero, John, is likable. John struggles to be a good servant and obey his master(s) over his career as a master gardener, all the while being a good father/husband and caring for the plants that he loves. Meanwhile, England is changing around him, which makes his many roles all the more difficult.
All in a...more
All in a...more
Once again Philippa has told a wonderful story full of adventures and kingly idiocy. I learned an awful lot baout gardening and can't wait til the next installment to see what happens to his son and possible new wife. I am beginning to think that Philippa might be a bit of a pervert lol. There seems to be at least one scene in each of her just fictional books that make me feel a bit quesy. The wideacre trilogy had brother and sister sex and whipping, and this series has some gardener/servant/ki...more
Earthly Joys is about the first Generation of Tradescant Gardeners. John Tradescant a man who loves to travel in search for the treasures the world has to offer his gardens. He grapples with his sexual orientation through-out the book, in my opinion. It may only seem more obvious later on into the book in certain scenes, but there is very subtle clues through-out if you are accustomed to such particular thoughts, Philippa adds subtle clues within his domineer.
The book as a steady flow, with ver...more
The book as a steady flow, with ver...more
10/28/06 - This being my first Philippa Gregory book, I can't really compare this to her others. This took me a little longer to get through than I had hoped, both because this was a busy month for me and because I found parts of the book slow-moving. It's not what I would call a really gripping tale, and you have to have a little patience and/or appreciation for the excessive detail re: plants, gardening, etc. It really did make me want to be there in the gardens, though -- at times I really wi...more
Although I normally read books quite quickly, I stretched out my reading of this one over a few days. The vividly portrayed Renaissance England setting, the complex, familiar characters, and the interesting, steady flow of the plot line made me want to stay in this story longer than I usually do with others.
“Earthly Joys” is about John Tradescant, a gardener in the time of King James I. While other men entwine themselves in politics and charge eagerly off to war, John is content to nurture seedl...more
“Earthly Joys” is about John Tradescant, a gardener in the time of King James I. While other men entwine themselves in politics and charge eagerly off to war, John is content to nurture seedl...more
Well, Philippa, ya win some, you lose some. And you just didn't win me over with Earthy Joys, either time I've read it. The historical backdrop of the switch from the Tudors to the Stuarts was interesting, as was the tulip crash. And sometimes I even liked John (the main character), but I didn't always get why I was reading about him. Nothing was pulling me forward into the story. it covered almost John's whole life, instead of being a story about X,Y,Z. There wasn't necessarily a conflict, or e...more
I read 'Virgin Earth' before I realised this book existed about the life of John Tradescant the elder. However, this did not spoil it for me. Although I enjoyed the read, some aspects challenged the boundaries of my thinking such as courtly life and references to the Duke of Buckingham (George Villiers) and his "special relationships" with both Charles 1 and Charles II. This had me googling (not goggling) for more information, but only because I had no knowledge of this period in history. I did...more
Summary From Publishers Weekly
Seventeenth-century England is the setting for this engaging historical novel based on the life of John Tradescant, a gardener of common birth who transforms plain plots of land into slices of heaven on earth. As vassal to the secretary of state, Sir Robert Cecil, Tradescant—who, as fate would have it, had no sense of smell—places his master's garden above all else, much to the chagrin of his wife, Elizabeth, and young son, J. Tradescant's affinity for botanicals is...more
Seventeenth-century England is the setting for this engaging historical novel based on the life of John Tradescant, a gardener of common birth who transforms plain plots of land into slices of heaven on earth. As vassal to the secretary of state, Sir Robert Cecil, Tradescant—who, as fate would have it, had no sense of smell—places his master's garden above all else, much to the chagrin of his wife, Elizabeth, and young son, J. Tradescant's affinity for botanicals is...more
I enjoyed this, but not as much as my mother. The concept was interesting and creative, she did her historical homework, but there always seemed to be something off in the characterizations, and the level of language and nuance definitely fell towards the lower end of the scale. The main character was the gardener of James I and Charles the (?) of England, so I learned much about plants and gardening during the 1600's. That part was fascinating, as were the historical details about England durin...more
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Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a TV drama and a major film. Published in 2009, the bestselling The White Queen, the story of Elizabeth Woodville, ushered in a new series involving The Cousins’ War (now known as The War of the Roses) and a new era for the acc...more
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Feb 27, 2010 12:33pm