Earthly Joys

Earthly Joys is a historical novel by the English writer Philippa Gregory, published in 1998. It follows John Tradescant, a gardener and plant collector in seventeenth-century England.

Tradescant is a traveller in a time of discovery and the greatest gardening pioneer of his day, and a man of humble birth who is nonetheless trusted by the kingdom's greatest leaders, from politicians and aristocrats to royalty. He is uniquely skilled at collecting, raising and nurturing plants, and his practical good sense makes him an invaluable servant as he scours the known world for new and beautiful species; his position also gives him a view of the most secret activities at court. Both King Charles I and Tradescant are in thrall to the Duke of Buckingham, the most powerful man in England, who is flamboyant, outrageously charming and utterly reckless. Tradescant has always been faithful to his masters, but Buckingham is unlike anything he has known, and the court may love him while the people hate him. The novel follows what that loyalty costs him while the country slides towards civil war.

Gregory writes historical novels about the political life of England, and this one takes its view of the court from the garden rather than from the throne.