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Virgin Earth
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 25 hrs and 40 mins
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Summary
The sequel to the outstanding historical novel Earthly Joys, by the internationally bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory.
A brand new recording – available as an unabridged digital audio edition for the first time.
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.
Critic reviews
‘Subtle and exciting.’ Daily Express
‘Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.’
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating.’ Sunday Times
‘One of Gregory's great strengths as a novelist is her ability to take familiar historical figures and flesh them into living breathing human beings. The Constant Princess is a worthy successor to her previous novels about the Tudors.’ Daily Express
What listeners say about Virgin Earth
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- JohnF
- 10-01-21
A great read!
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and marvelled at the research that must have gone into it.
it was well performed and it has encouraged me to reflect anew about many aspects related to this important period of our nations history.
I am happy to recommend it and the author to other listener.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 28-05-22
Gardening and history
The narrator made this book interesting. Phillipa Gregory has done her research well. Like the first book Earthly Joys, if you enjoy gardening and have a love of history then listen to this book. I learnt so much from it. Not sure that I could have read it as it seemed very long but the narrator read it so well I was hooked right from the beginning.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-05-22
not her best work...
Disappointed at this sequel. The main character was a disaster. The ending was worse than a rush job... it just ended. Characters were killed off with no hint of a reason why. It felt like a blockbuster sequal that just ran out of money and steam.
The performance was poor, no continuity or research into the first performance, some effort into character distinguishing but a flat reading overall. I'm gutted to leave this review as I love this author.
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- fair minded Maggie
- 30-11-22
Revealing story.
So interesting to discover that the famous Ashmolean Museum was founded to some extent by the trickery of Ashmole. We gardeners should inform ourselves as to the genius of John Tradescant and his incredible contribution to our gardens through his legacy.
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- Jacqueline Rawlins
- 27-11-20
Escape to another time
I listened to this book on audible and really enjoyed being transported to another time. Engrossing and emotional. Lovely book
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2 people found this helpful
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- eGJ
- 16-01-24
Not as plant based
Not so concerned with plant gathering as Earthly Joys, but as fascinating as it covers many of the lesser skirmishes of the Civil War and the events in the New World. The narrator’s attempts at accents often grates, but the story keeps you want to keep listening until the sad ending.
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- evelynkh
- 06-01-24
Reader not as good as Earthly Joys.
I enjoyed the prequel so much (the story, good writing and an excellent reader who brought it to life) that when I finished it I immediately started listening to Virgin Earth. Unfortunately, David Thorpe is not as a good a reader and despite John The Younger being from Kent, he gave this character’s voice a touch of South West, a mistake repeated so often it began to grate (and this is a long book). So a good story and good writing let down by the reading not as good as the prequel’s.
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- Celeste
- 02-09-24
Riveting sequel
This book is sadly not as good as the first ‘Earthly Joys’ but it’s still captivating.
The narrator is not the same as the first book & although he tells a good yarn & is certainly skilful, the voices he selected for the main characters turn the story into a farce at times. The writing is much lazier than in the first book & im afraid to say the main character completely lacks any virtues, so mustering up empathy for his plights is a task. Still it’s well worth a listen & if there was a 3rd book even if it was of this calibre I would still buy it.
Hester came to a sticky end in real life…an end that is worthy of investigation.
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- Mrs F Barrow
- 17-04-19
Loved every minute
Excellent listening and extremely well read.
I will recommend to all my friends
Thank you
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kirstine
- 21-01-21
Brings the events of the time vividly to life
I listened to this immediately after finishing Earthly Joys eager to continue following the saga of the Tradescant family’s great contribution to horticulture that lives to this day. This second instalment is even more filled with eventful history than the earlier book and tells the story, with some fictional embellishments, of the life of John Tradescent the Younger. Like his father, he travelled to collect new plants to with visits to Virginia. First when it was a struggling colony and ten years later when Jamestown and the surrounding area had become well-established and more prosperous sadly at the expense of the native peoples. I guess that the part where John lived as a native is fictional but it does give an insight into the lives of the natives and how they lived in harmony with the environment.
Meanwhile, his long-suffering second wife looked after their business and his son and daughter from his first marriage. Coinciding with his first foray to the New World discontent about the profligacy and autocratic behaviour of King Charles gathered pace and much of the second half of the book is taken up by the struggles between the parliament and the King leading to civil war. John returned to a land in strife and by using his own family in the narrative to illustrate how families were divided by different allegiances the turmoil of the time is brought vividly to life.
I really enjoyed this book that made me feel part of the struggle, think about how society should be led and grieve over how native peoples have been driven from their lands and/or bonded into slavery.
The narrator is excellent
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3 people found this helpful