'One of the great imaginative creations in English literature' Daily Telegraph

A dazzling novel of loyalty and dreams set in Restoration England.

The gaudy years of the Restoration are long gone and Robert Merivel, physician and courtier to King Charles II, sets off for the French court in search of a fresh start. But royal life at the Palace of Versailles - all glitter in front and squalor behind - leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with the seductive Madame de Flamanville, allows him to dream of a different future.

But will that future ever be his? Summoned home urgently to attend to the ailing King, Merivel finds his loyalty and skill tested to their limits.

Rose Tremain has sold over one million copies of her books.

PRAISE FOR MERIVEL
'This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters' The Times
'Magnificent story-teller' Independent on Sunday
'Wonderfully entertaining' Michael Holroyd, Guardian Books of the Year

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

About the Author
Rose Tremain's novels and short stories have been published in thirty countries and have won many awards, including the Orange Prize (The Road Home), the Dylan Thomas Award (The Colonel's Daughter and Other Stories), the Whitbread Novel of the Year (Music & Silence) the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Prix Femina in France (Sacred Country) and the South Bank Sky Arts Award (The Gustav Sonata). Her most recent novel is Lily, a Richard and Judy Book Club selection. Rose Tremain was made a CBE in 2007 and a Dame in 2020. She lives in Norfolk and London with the biographer, Richard Holmes.

Reviews
Social, political and physical labyrinth -- Frances Osborne * Evening Standard *
Satisfying... agreeably sardonic -- Quentin Letts * Daily Mail *
One of the great imaginative creations in English literature * Daily Telegraph *
An unadulterated delight * Independent *
Rich and satisfying -- Lindsay Duguid * Sunday Times *
A tour de force of literary technique, a treasure house of diligent research and imaginative ingenuity -- Jane Shilling * Telegraph *
Wonderfully entertaining -- Michael Holroyd * Guardian, Books of the Year *
Her feeling for the spirit of the times is triumphant -- Charlotte Moore * Spectator *
A rich, glowing portrait -- Daisy Hay * Observer *
Her characters laugh, cry, plot and flounder so convincingly that they take up residence in your head and refuse to go away -- Mary Crockett * Scotland on Sunday *
This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters, leavened with flourishes of lyricism and an attractive tolerance towards human frailties -- Angus Clarke * The Times *
What ultimately makes the book such a joy is simply being in Merivel's company. His narration is by turns rueful, comic, despairing and joyful; but it's always bursting with life, always good-hearted - and always entirely loveable -- James Walton * Daily Mail *
A delight -- Lucy Beresford * Literary Review *
At times witty and enchanting, on other occasions full of doubt and self-loathing, Merivel remains a stunning achievement. He is Everyman and speaks to us all -- Virginia Blackburn * Sunday Express *
Exuberance is a very hard thing to sustain in a novel... However, Tremain brings it off brilliantly. As one might expect, this is a very funny novel, full of picaresque adventure, hapless accidents and ingeniously wrought slapstick. However, it is also a very moving and beautiful novel. There are passages here which I found myself reading over and over again simply in order to savour them. Merivel: A Man of His Time may have been a long time coming, but it's been well worth the wait -- John Preston * Mail on Sunday *
Merivel is excellent company. Writing with a mimic's ear for conversation, whimsical one moment, grave the next, Tremain has an underlying preoccupation here: the last third of live, love and loss, loneliness and vanity -- Maggie Fergusson * Intelligent Life *


Awards
Short-listed for Walter Scott Prize 2013 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9780099548430
Author Rose Tremain
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Vintage
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 245g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 21mm