Virgin Earth

Virgin Earth
Philippa Gregory

Sequel to the outstanding historical novel Earthly Joys, and written by the bestselling Philippa Gregory, the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin’s Lover.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.

PHILIPPA GREGORY

Virgin Earth

Copyright (#ulink_6175951a-308f-5dd0-8217-ca2e8f9ef8b5)

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Harper Press

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 1999

Copyright © Philippa Gregory Ltd 1999

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1993

Copyright © Philippa Gregory Ltd 1993

Philippa Gregory asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780007228485

Ebook Edition © NOVEMBER 2011 ISBN: 9780007383351

Version: 2018-03-06

Dedication (#ulink_604e7e03-107a-51fe-9cad-d4240d8e9403)

For Anthony

Contents

Cover (#u672f0237-4b3e-54da-9585-058bf03bd3bb)

Title Page (#u85e5ca34-4a95-5bcb-9db4-55c0b405562b)

Copyright (#u63f9a101-5b3c-5ea2-8bf0-61ad1d039a51)

Dedication (#ua146b3fc-2c42-5381-9589-19e45eba4999)

Winter 1638, At Sea (#ud3e7a02c-1892-50bc-bca0-34ba59428e70)

Spring 1638, Virginia (#u3f271f4b-2bf2-55d5-9194-1a9be9555430)

Summer 1638, London (#uefefddb8-5764-51dc-a6ed-a1a991dcc259)

October 1638 (#ua8b86f96-7e79-52ee-b318-b7f13a40bc87)

Winter 1639 (#u84d2f7a9-cae4-53e9-83f0-7cd76807f3bd)

1640 (#u2b8dc57e-49dd-5b4a-8605-ee14bc7696d6)

Spring 1641 (#u73506c92-ab80-55ba-acf6-dc93311e00b9)

Summer 1641 (#u7217beca-c41f-5c14-bd42-6256a5173bcf)

Summer 1641 (#ucab09d15-82d7-579d-9f97-831a87b8fe36)

Autumn 1641 (#u420944dc-26d2-56c9-bda3-e2bf536ad00e)

Spring 1642 (#uc02e4a9c-2eda-5076-9ac7-6099ab7a99a9)

April 1642 (#u38dee7e1-e0a6-5948-846a-0af24c7384cd)

July 1642 (#udb0d9b5b-81e5-5a4c-99f2-131d4711ac33)

August 1642 (#ub4b9887e-1145-5882-9c4d-1c243992f056)

October 1642 (#litres_trial_promo)

Winter 1642–3, Virginia (#litres_trial_promo)

April 1643 (#litres_trial_promo)

May 1643 (#litres_trial_promo)

Spring 1643, England (#litres_trial_promo)

Summer 1643, Virginia (#litres_trial_promo)

Summer 1643, England (#litres_trial_promo)

Winter 1643, Virginia (#litres_trial_promo)