Virgin Earth By Philippa Gregory

Ok, so I was dreading starting this book ever since I read its prequel Earthly Joys. which was a disappointment. But this book was much better. I'd never read anything about this particular time period when the English first discovered Virginia and went to start new lives there. So that part was an eye-opener.

The book is divided with the chapters alternating between the civil war situation in England, and the colonial settlements in Virginia, which is all about how John Tradescant II struggles to live and build a life alone as a planter, without any success. He is saved by the Powhatan, the natives and is accepted and becomes one of them, only to desert them in their wars against the settlers. It all seems a little far-fetched, but I read it as fiction, and haven’t researched it, so may be true.
This book was much better than its predecessor, with more adventures/drama and less green talk. A good read all in all.