In addition, Restoration was made into a film in 1995. It was fairly popular, being shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1989 and being the Sunday Express Book of the Year. When a twist of fate delivers an ambitious. Restoration is a novel that was written by Rose Tremain and published in 1989. From Rose Tremain comes the Booker Prize short-listed novel that restored the historical novel to its. A thoroughly satisfying read, the complex plot is augmented by acutely observed historical detail, nuanced character development, humor and poignancy. Read Restoration From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Lily by Rose Tremain available from Rakuten Kobo. Book cover for Restoration by Rose Tremain. Merivel embodies the contradictions of his era: though he is vain, frivolous and cynical, he is also a man of sensibility, intelligence and imaginative daring his wry, witty voice holds the reader absorbed. Another tragic loss sends him back to plague-ridden London, where his life comes full turn. Having unwittingly succumbed to that forbidden emotion, Merivel is cast off by both wife and King, and must join his dour Quaker friend Pearce working in a lunatic asylum in remote, bleak Whittlesea. In a larger sense, however, it is a social, cultural and psychological picture of that age, when bluebloods lived in gaudy excess but others were expected to be content in their ``appointed stations.'' Through the whim of his adored monarch, narrator Robert Merivel becomes veterinarian to the Royal Dogs, unofficial Fool, and ``paid cuckold,'' when he marries the King's mistress, Celia Clemence, on condition that he himself will never fall in love with her. The story is of one man's rise and fall and rise again, of his discovery of love and faith, and his emotional maturation in a crucible of harrowing experiences.

The double import of Tremain's title-it refers both to the reign of the 17th-century Restoration King Charles II and to the restoration to the protagonist of his beloved home and aspirations for his life-is one of the subtle delights of this accomplished novel, shortlisted for the Booker and winner of other awards in Britain.

Restoration tremain