Virgin Earth, written by best-selling author Philippa Gregory, is a gripping tale of John Tradescant the Younger, a gardener, and his unique collection of plants as he flees England's Civil War and travels to the Royalist colony of Virginia in America. What makes this book a great read is its compelling adventure in a new world as John learns to love and respect the native people's way of life just as it is threatened by the colonial settlers. It also offers an insight into the Tradescants' struggle as their reputations as the greatest gardeners in the country are put to test through the Commonwealth and the Restoration upheavals.

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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.

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