A historical fiction that follows the journey of Robert Merivel, a young physician in 17th century England. Plenty of love, ambition, and moral dilemma. ( )

[93~94] Awkward narrative conventions. Continuous present. Good medicine.

The marvelous Rose Tremain renders a highly memorable protagonist—one hesitates to call him a hero—in her 1989 novel Restoration. Sir Robert Merivel, who receives his title during the narrative, is too lustful, too tipsy, and too gluttonous to be an example of virtue, particularly in Restoration England, where our story is set. Charles II takes the throne Parliament restores to its king, the country tired of, as the author says in her Afterword, “… [keeping] their thoughts obediently turned to a Protestant God who commanded civic duty, modesty, hard work and self-sacrifice.” Tremain renders Restoration London, with every trend, every thought, every fashion, and every favor emanating from the Monarch, in such delicious detail, that you will be swept up.

Under Charles, Britain rushes to embrace the new mania for personal gain and all things shallow and showy. Robert Merivel reflects this mania, and in fact, seeks to be an exemplar of his time. You could say, without fear of contradiction, that he accomplishes this. I would dare to say that his reverses do nothing to alter our opinion—he’s still an exactly typical man of court. We meet him while he’s studying anatomy at Cambridge. This discipline he falls out of in short order: his father is glove maker to the King, and he brings Robert and introduces him to His Majesty. Robert is overwhelmed in the Royal presence, physically ill and unable to stand and present himself appropriately. Thus does Charles’s presence affect him through the entire book.

By her own account, Tremain wrote Restoration during the 1980s as an indictment of Thatcher’s greedy and preening England. It feels even more timely today, a mirror to modern Western consumerism and income inequality run amok. It remains on point, it exhibits Tremain’s unflagging skill in evoking a time and place, and focuses its first-person energy on a highly entertaining, and at times even sympathetic, character.

https://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2021/08/restoration-by-rose-tremain.html ( )

superb and full of surprises. Comic, sad, informative, reflective, nutty, disgusting, inspiring. And effortlessly read by Paul Daneman. Always liked Tremain's books but this is far and away her best - and the moment I went back to Audible there was the sequel which I didn't know anything about. ( )

I thought this book magnificent. Tremain manages to create such a vivid character in Robert Merivel. Despite his obvious flaws, I felt genuine compassion for him and on many occasions chuckled. The writers lyrical prose is wonderful. The sequel awaits but like the author, I might pause before I continue. ( )

A lively and entertaining novel about a man, Robert Merivel, and his loves and his search for himself. A court fool he is offered a chance by the king he admires. He grabs the opportunity but things soon go awry. Interesting and funny. ( )

I kept waiting for it to improve. ( )

I've read a couple of other novels by Rose Tremain, and I've always liked her work, but this was the first of her books to really wow me. I thought this book was amazing. It's told from the point of view of a foolish sycophant at the court of Charles II. But Robert Merivel transforms over the course of the book, and the transformation is thoroughly believable.

The writing in Restoration is quite different than Tremain's usual style; it's told in the first-person and the voice reminded me a bit of Sarah Waters's work (although the plot itself is nothing like anything Waters might write). The voice and period details felt very authentic to me. Most importantly, Merivel feels like a real person, and I never felt that Tremain was sneering at him. He does foolish things, but Tremain never loses sight of the human underneath, and that focus is what makes this book really work.

Tremain intended this book as a commentary on the excesses of the Eighties, and I think the parallels to consumer culture still work. But even if you ignore the commentary, Restoration works as a marvelous character study of a flawed, vapid, but ultimately redeemable man. ( )

I started this book twice because of the great reviews. This time I got as far as 8% before giving up. The protagonist is just too frivolous/silly for my liking. It's like watching a juvenile-level sitcom. I like humour but not the slapstick kind. I guess book reviews say as much about the reviewer as they do about the book. However, I don't like life-story books either. There is not as much suspense as a murder mystery. I liked all of the CS Sansom, Matthew Shardlake historical fiction series, not that I need to read about murders but a murder mystery creates suspense, forward movement and focus. Life-story and family saga novels are too meandering for my taste, too unfocused and there is too little suspense. As far as comedy is concerned, I just finished reading "A Man Called Ove" which had me chuckling all the way through, but the humour here is satire, not slapstick. ( )

https://shawjonathan.com/2018/03/23/rose-tremains-restoration/ ( )

I've read a couple of other novels by Rose Tremain, and I've always liked her work, but this was the first of her books to really wow me. I thought this book was amazing. It's told from the point of view of a foolish sycophant at the court of Charles II. But Robert Merivel transforms over the course of the book, and the transformation is thoroughly believable.

The writing in Restoration is quite different than Tremain's usual style; it's told in the first-person and the voice reminded me a bit of Sarah Waters's work (although the plot itself is nothing like anything Waters might write). The voice and period details felt very authentic to me. Most importantly, Merivel feels like a real person, and I never felt that Tremain was sneering at him. He does foolish things, but Tremain never loses sight of the human underneath, and that focus is what makes this book really work.

Tremain intended this book as a commentary on the excesses of the Eighties, and I think the parallels to consumer culture still work. But even if you ignore the commentary, Restoration works as a marvelous character study of a flawed, vapid, but ultimately redeemable man. ( )

Restoration is set during the reign of Charles II. Robert Merivel holds the position of veterinarian to the King's dogs, as well as acting the part of the King's fool. When the King needs a cover for his mistress Celia, he marries Celia off to Merivel, on the condition that Merivel can never fall in love with her. Merivel is given a large estate, and takes up painting and playing the oboe, living a debauched and idle life. When Celia displeases the King, however, she is sent to live on Merivel's estate, and he in turn displeases the king by falling in love with her. This king disowns Merivel, and he must make his own way in the world. We follow Merivel on his rags to riches to rags story.

Tremain has created a vividly-crafted work of historical fiction, with great detail and humor. There are fascinating descriptions of life in the 17th century. Tremain says that Restoration was her "fictional response to the climate of selfishness and material greed that began to prevail in our society during the Thatcher years, from which we have never recovered, and for which we are now beginning to pay a terrifying price."

3 stars ( )

Excellent character study of a man's restoration to usefulness and dignity set against the tawdry goings on of Charles II court, a Quaker refuge for the insane, and work a day London. Robert Merivel relishes being a "man of his time" only to have his time and his passions become his undoing. Cut off from his patron, The King, he seeks out his old friend and fellow anatomy student for help. His friend, John Pearce, is working at a madhouse where Merivel also begins to help, and to rebuild himself, only to fall again. And thus he must remake himself again. Excellent writing; Tremain paces the plot well, neither getting bogged down nor rushing. Merivel is wonderfully crafted, full of pathos, humor and insight, even at his weakest moments. ( )

Excellent character study of a man's restoration to usefulness and dignity set against the tawdry goings on of Charles II court, a Quaker refuge for the insane, and work a day London. Robert Merivel relishes being a "man of his time" only to have his time and his passions become his undoing. Cut off from his patron, The King, he seeks out his old friend and fellow anatomy student for help. His friend, John Pearce, is working at a madhouse where Merivel also begins to help, and to rebuild himself, only to fall again. And thus he must remake himself again. Excellent writing; Tremain paces the plot well, neither getting bogged down nor rushing. Merivel is wonderfully crafted, full of pathos, humor and insight, even at his weakest moments. ( )

Excellent character study of a man's restoration to usefulness and dignity set against the tawdry goings on of Charles II court, a Quaker refuge for the insane, and work a day London. Robert Merivel relishes being a "man of his time" only to have his time and his passions become his undoing. Cut off from his patron, The King, he seeks out his old friend and fellow anatomy student for help. His friend, John Pearce, is working at a madhouse where Merivel also begins to help, and to rebuild himself, only to fall again. And thus he must remake himself again. Excellent writing; Tremain paces the plot well, neither getting bogged down nor rushing. Merivel is wonderfully crafted, full of pathos, humor and insight, even at his weakest moments. ( )

I wouldn't normally read historical fiction such as this, because I'm too old and demented to be able to learn new facts about history. I'd rather just stick to the current era and read stuff that's more directly relevant to my life. I like Rose Tremain's work though, so I embarked on this journey through the time of restoration England in the baroque era. I am actually interested in the baroque era, as that's when the best music was composed. I'm also a bit interested in medicine, which is a focus of this story. What I found most interesting though, was the main character's coming to terms with his own faults. I presume most of the historical material was accurate (the plague, the Great Fire of London), but I did notice one error: the main character referred to "Halley's comet". Sure, they knew about the comet at that time (1660s), but it wasn't named after Halley until about 100 years later. Overall, a good read and even I could find relevance to my current life. ( )

Merivel happens to cure the king’s sick dog by accident, and as a result is elevated to be part of the court. Officially as doctor for the dogs, but in reality more as a kind of jester – an outlandishly dressed, constantly sloshed, farting and joking clown. Until he is given a more serious task. The king’s favorite mistress needs to get married for the sake of respectability, and Merivel is the king’s choice. Convinced this loud womenizing lout is unable of deeper feelings, the king makes him baron, gives him an estate in the country, and the occasional task of looking after lady Celia. Merivel can’t believe his luck, and lives a more than happy life at his Norfolk manor. Until the unthinkable happens. He falls in love with his own wife.

From there on this rude romp takes a much more serious turn – or two - of which little can be said without spoilers. But Merivel’s story is a classical Bildungsroman, and his journey is both gripping and sad as well as funny. Sure, one or two characters are a bit larger than life, but that just adds to the flavor. It’s also refreshing, for once, to find royalty portrayed as actually worthy of the awe and respect they get. Here, king Charles is really both wise and elevated, almost sage-like.

Without stressing it, this is also a well researched book. I especially liked the glimpses into where the medical science stood in the 17th century, and the vivid descriptions of fire in London.

Historical fiction is not my thing, and this is not likely a read I’d picked for myself. Now I’m just happy to see we have another Tremain on our shelves. ( )

Enjoyable historical fiction with a feet of clay hero well drawn by the author. ( )

This was my third five-star read out of 71 books read so far this year; I don't hand out that rating very easily, and when I do, it's because the book has surpassed any expectation I may have had, made me want to start again right from the beginning as soon as I'd finished it, and opened up a universe which was somehow magical to me. As far as expectations go, they were pretty high, as this novel first came to my attention because it had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and I had read very positive reviews for it, so it had been on my wishlist for a long time. My first book by Rose Tremain, which was among my favourites of 2013, was Music & Silence. There's a certain quality about Tremain's writing, or about the way she tells her stories, or about the characters she creates or all of these put together, which I find very exciting. From the first words, I'm willing to follow her wherever she wants to take me.

The story is set in the England of 1665 and is told as a first person account by one Robert Merivel, who relates the events as they are happening, probably in the form of a personal journal. All the events take place over the course of approximately one year, and it's a year filled to the brim with events for Merivel in the England of the Restoration. Introduced by his father, a glovemaker to the King, Young Meviel, a student in medicine, meets Charles II for the first time and immediately falls under his spell, so that when King Charles asks Merivel to save one of his dying dogs (his beloved spaniels of course), Merivel jumps at the chance to be part of the inner circle of Whitehall Palace and successfully cures the dog, mainly by doing nothing. Merivel further captures the king's favour with his comical antics, and the king comes to affectionately call him his fool, which delights Merivel, as being in the king's favour and among his friends is a privilege he revels in. He is given a grand estate, and immediately sets about decorating his large house in an effusion of baroque colours, in the most vivid hues, then takes an interest in painting and music, and indeed he observes all around him with an artist's eye. One day the King tells Robert that he would like him to wed one of his mistresses, Celia Clemens. Merivel is a rather ugly man and uncouth in his manners, liking to amuse the court with his frequent farts, among other things, but the king likes his last name and likes to think of his mistress as the future Mrs Merivel. The one condition he sets it that the marriage must not be consummated, and so enamoured is Merivel with his monarch that he immediately accepts the arrangement. Merivel is a great lover of all the finer things in life; along with the decorative arts, fine cuisine and wines, he also enjoys the company of women and rarely denies himself anything, so of course it follows that he is bound to fall in love with Celia, even though the latter detests him to the core. The trap is set, and what rises must fall, and throughout this novel we follow Merivel's progress from King's physician to wannabe artist and musician, to his time spent in the New Bedlam hospital, in Norfolk, where he tries to cure the insane once he has fallen from grace, a place from which he manages to fall from grace even further. Merivel is a fascinating character and though he doesn't dwell much on why he is so obsessed with the king or any of his inner motivations, he doesn't lack in observational skills and describes his daily life and the happenings among these unusual circles of people in a very amusing manner, though the novel doesn't lack for depth.

I was very happy to discover that Tremain wrote a sequel in 2012, simply called [Merivel], and it won't be long before I pick it up. I listened to this book narrated to perfection by Paul Daneman, one of those narrators I liked so much that I immediately tried to find what other books I could get by him, but unfortunately, this is the only one on offer at present. There will be more Tremain in the near future for me, as she is one of these writers by whom I would love to read the complete works.

Most highly recommended! ( )

I loved this book. Merivel is such an interesting and genuine character. He is funny, disgusting, and sad all at once. Tremain is a wonderful writer. Plot moves along, characters are believable; setting during Restoration England is true. Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this. ( )

Historical Fiction, about a physician, Robert Merivel, in the 17th century who falls out of favor with the King and tries to rebuild his life, all the while pining to be close with the King again. It is very well written, sometimes humorous, and sometimes a bit sad. The medical facts are interesting and seem to be spot on with the time period. Merivel can be very self centered and doesn’t seem to care about anyone or anything except for the one person he can’t have. There were times Robert was such a cad that you wanted to smack him but he is a character in every sense of the word. However, he is an interesting character and I will continue on to the next book in the series, just to see if he ever learns from his mistakes. There is some gratuitous sex and it isn’t action packed in the least, more a day in the life, which does slog down a bit after the middle of the book, but well written historical fiction that I would recommend.

The narration by, Paul Daneman is at times absolutely brilliant and at other times cartoonish, and some people will be annoyed by some loud mouth clicks, they aren’t constant but are noticeable when they appear. I got over the mouth clicks , but some characters sounded like a parrot talking and his women could really use some work but there was just something great about the majority of his narration that I would listen to this narrator again because of the parts of the narration that are brilliant.

This was my first book by Tremain, and I would definitely read more from her, and I would try this narrator again too.

3 Stars ( )

I would probably have liked this more if I had not read it immediately after Hilary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies, which is infinitely better. It's rather too episodic for my liking, but I did enjoy it enough to want to read the sequel. ( )

This historical novel is set in 17th century London and Norfolk. Our narrator, Robert Merivel takes us on a journey through Court, society, medicine, interior decoration, London brothels, Thames watermen, Norfolk mental asylum. Is he a jester or visionary, a self-centred fool or a principled, loyal man?
I found this an original take on a historical novel - the historical context looms large in the novel, but we also see a very personal, individual journey. Recommended. ( )

After last month's book club book, anything would have been an improvement - this certainly was.

I'd heard a lot about this, people ravaing about it as one of the best books they'd ever read, so it always had a lot to live up to. And i can see why it was popular, but parts of it jarred for me, and I just couldn't get over those bits and let it suck me in. Narrated by Robert Merivel, a bit of a good for nothing dandy that thrived at the court of Charles II, it tells of his rise from obscurity to court favourite and marriage to the King's mistress, and his subsequent misadventures.

Parts of it were great, but as soon as he came back into the court circle, it just felt horribly contrived to me. The ending was curiously un satisfying for this same reason.

i probably would read something else by her, but I'm not sure I'd reead this again. ( )

Robert Merivel is the son of King Charles's favorite glovemaker and a medical student who loves excess in all things. King Charles takes him into his circle, but Merivel ultimately pays a high price for his exalted standing. With nowhere to turn, he travels to a Quaker hospital for the insane to join a friend from medical school who works there. Restoration would be a good book to suggest to readers who enjoy titles such as Pure by Andrew Miller and The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. ( )