大象传媒

Rose Tremain returns triumphantly to one of her best loved characters, in the long awaited sequel to her Booker short-listed best-selling novel, Restoration, published in 1989.

Seventeen years after the events related in Restoration, Merivel, a man of wit, wisdom and not a little passion, is facing a crisis. Life on his Norfolk estate and as a physician, a father and sometimes a fool to his adored King Charles 11, is no longer enough. Not only are he, and his loyal servant Will, ageing, but his beloved daughter Margaret is seventeen and will soon fly the nest. Even the King is failing. How can he reinvigorate his life?

As Merivel sets out in search of Wonders, he finds adventure and surprise. In a dazzling journey by way of the glittering court at Versailles, the purchase of a bear and a love affair in Switzerland, and with encounters with old lovers and new, Rose Tremain captures a man who knows himself and his follies and foibles only too well.

A delight equally to those who remember the young Merivel and to new listeners, Rose Tremain's novel promises to be a memorable three week Book at Bedtime.

The reader is the stage and screen actor Nicholas Woodeson.
The abridger was Sally Marmion and the producer was Di Speirs.