Merivel – A Man of His Time - Softcover

Tremain, Rose

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393348938 ISBN 13: 9780393348934

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014

Synopsis

The gaudy years of the Restoration are long gone. Robert Merivel, physician and courtier to Charles II, loved for his gift for turning sorrow into laughter, now faces the agitations and anxieties of middle age. Questions crowd his mind: has he been a good father? Is he a fair master? Is he the King s friend or the King s slave? In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court. But Versailles all glitter in front and squalor behind leaves Merivel in despair, until a chance encounter with Madame de Flamanville, a seductive Swiss botanist, allows him to dream of an honorable future. Yet will that future ever be his? Back home at Bidnold Manor, his loyalty and medical skills are tested to their limits, while the captive bear he has brought back from France begins to cause havoc in his heart and on his estate. With a cascade of lace at his neck and a laugh that can burst out of him in the midst of torment, Merivel is a uniquely brilliant creation soulful, funny, outrageous, and achingly sad. He is Everyman. His unmistakable, self-mocking voice speaks directly to us down the centuries."

About this title

Review:

"Not just pleasurable, but varied, engrossing, and at times, astonishing.--Richard Eder

One of the great imaginative creations in English literature.--Mick Brown

It's an absolute pleasure to...spend time in [Merivel's] company.

A richly painted setting enlivened by an intriguingly empathetic portrait of Charles II and an all-too-human hero--passionate, paradoxical, self-destructive, and infinitely sympathetic.

Richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters, leavened with flourishes of lyricism and an attractive tolerance towards human frailties.--Angus Clarke

Book Description:

The major new novel from prize-winning bestseller Rose Tremain, set in Restoration England - shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0393348938
• ISBN 13: 9780393348934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384