I've called it "history" but I have my doubts! This book confirms my dislike of Phillipa Gregory's writing - it purports to be the life story of John Tradescant, the first man in England to make a systematic study of horticulure, yet the book makes more of Gregory's speculation about his personal relationships with his noble employers than about the documented facts of the man's life.
Somewhere along the way she lost me entirely - was it perhaps when she demonstrated her lack of real knowledge about 17th Century gardens, or about gardening in general, or perhaps when she puts a 57 year old Tradescant (a GARDENER, a commoner, and a servant) in the bed of the Duke of Buckingham - companion and probably lover of two Stuart kings, and the most arrogant man of his era. Psychologically improbable, and historically ludicrous, IMHO.
I was very disappointed in it - but I'll release it (although my first impulse was to light the fire with it) in the hope that someone may enjoy it. I just can't get over my vision of the elderly, arthritic Tradescant in the sack with the gorgeous, notoriously picky George Villiers.

at meetup