- 'Exquisite.' Claire Tomalin
- 'Breathtaking. A fantastically good read.' Lisa Jardine
- 'Without question one of the best histories of the year.' Atlantic Monthly
Key Features:
- A Guardian Review 'Book of the Week'
- A story of passion and purity in the court of Charles II
- The controversial relationship between Samuel Pepys' friend John Evelyn and a young maid of honour
- Illuminates life, love, and religion in Restoration London
Description:
'This exquisite new book unravels the truth of a platonic but passionate love affair at the court of Charles II, between a maid of honour and a middle-aged married scholar.'
Claire Tomalin, writing in The Week
John Evelyn ranks with his friend Samuel Pepys as one of the best loved of English diarists. He was a virtuoso: a man of letters and of science, highly intellectual and devoutly spiritual. In 1669, Evelyn began the most controversial episode of his life: a passionate 'seraphic' friendship with Margaret Godolphin, a maid of honour at the court of Charles II, 30 years his junior.
Set against the vivid background of the court and the great gardens of the time, Transformations of Love is the story of a complex and ambiguous relationship. Was Evelyn in his way as much a sexual predator as the rakes he professed to despise? Or was this truly a 'holy friendship'? Drawing on newly-discovered evidence, Frances Harris provides new insights into the sexual and spiritual worlds of Restoration England.
'If you liked Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire you'll love this.'
HARDBACK EDITION: 0-19-925257-2, January 2003, £25
- 'Breathtaking. A fantastically good read.' Lisa Jardine
- 'Without question one of the best histories of the year.' Atlantic Monthly
Key Features:
- A Guardian Review 'Book of the Week'
- A story of passion and purity in the court of Charles II
- The controversial relationship between Samuel Pepys' friend John Evelyn and a young maid of honour
- Illuminates life, love, and religion in Restoration London
Description:
'This exquisite new book unravels the truth of a platonic but passionate love affair at the court of Charles II, between a maid of honour and a middle-aged married scholar.'
Claire Tomalin, writing in The Week
John Evelyn ranks with his friend Samuel Pepys as one of the best loved of English diarists. He was a virtuoso: a man of letters and of science, highly intellectual and devoutly spiritual. In 1669, Evelyn began the most controversial episode of his life: a passionate 'seraphic' friendship with Margaret Godolphin, a maid of honour at the court of Charles II, 30 years his junior.
Set against the vivid background of the court and the great gardens of the time, Transformations of Love is the story of a complex and ambiguous relationship. Was Evelyn in his way as much a sexual predator as the rakes he professed to despise? Or was this truly a 'holy friendship'? Drawing on newly-discovered evidence, Frances Harris provides new insights into the sexual and spiritual worlds of Restoration England.
'If you liked Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire you'll love this.'
HARDBACK EDITION: 0-19-925257-2, January 2003, £25