By Paul Carrier
When first we met Robert Merivel, in Rose Tremain’s novel Restoration, he was a callow and impressionable young man who was lucky - or perhaps unlucky - enough to become a courtier to England’s King Charles II, following the revival of the monarchy in 1660.
Restoration is a picaresque novel, as the would-be physician, a shallow bon vivant, gradually matures into something resembling an adult during a series of misadventures that he later dubs his “Days of Folly.” Now he has returned, older and presumably wiser, in Merivel, a poignant sequel that begins some 15 years or so after the close of the previous novel.
Restored to Bidnold, the Norfolk estate that the king took from him in Restoration, Merivel is now a middle-aged country gentleman who shares his home with his teenage daughter, Margaret, and relies on the king’s largesse to meet his financial needs.
His medical practice and comfortable life should make him complacent and self-satisfied. But Merivel, known for his wit and good humor, is filled with ennui and melancholy. His gloom worsens when he learns that his beloved Margaret is planning an extended stay with a friend’s family in Cornwall, which would leave Merivel alone at Bidnold with his aged servants.
So Merivel seeks help from King Charles, who gives him a letter of introduction to the French king, Louis XIV. Sailing to France, Merivel makes a failed bid to become a physician at Versailles, where he falls in love with Louise de Flamanville, a married Swiss botanist. After running afoul of her husband, Merivel decides to return home, but not before rescuing a captive bear that he brings with him to England.
Adversity and good fortune both follow as Merivel’s life takes myriad turns, sometimes fueled by his impulsive nature and what he describes as his “animal appetites.” Through it all, his optimism waxes and wanes. Triumphs play out against setbacks. He is alternately upbeat and depressed as he grapples with a lingering sense that he has little to show for his life.
“I arrive very frequently at the suspicion that my life is a trifling thing, ill-lived, full of Misjudgement, Indulgence and Sloth, leading me only deeper and deeper into an abyss of Confusion and Emptiness, in which I no longer recall why I am alive,” he muses early on in the novel.
Merivel is a delightfully complex character, perhaps even more so than he was in Restoration because age has smoothed his rough edges a bit without fully erasing his roguish sensibilities. Now in his late 50s, he still “keeps laughter alive,” as King Charles puts it, yet he remains profoundly unhappy and dissatisfied.
A surprisingly modern man, Merivel is angst-ridden, a knave and jester who loves his daughter deeply and has a thoughtful, sometimes profound, outlook on his world. In addition to questioning the meaning of his escapade-filled life, he remains devoted both to the king and to the memory of a long-dead friend who disdained the excesses and frivolity of the court. His profound affection for animals says much about his character.
As The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper put it: “Robert Merivel is one of the great imaginative creations in English literature of the past 50 years.”
Merivel’s inner monologue, and the slightly stilted language he uses in conversation, have an appropriately antiquated sound that is never overbearing or distracting. The fact that Merivel routinely capitalizes common nouns at random adds to the novel’s period feel, as anyone who has read very old documents can appreciate.
Tremain provides enough historical context in Merivel to guide readers who are unfamiliar with Restoration, but Merivel offers a richer, more profound experience to those who have read the previous novel.
Restoration is a picaresque novel, as the would-be physician, a shallow bon vivant, gradually matures into something resembling an adult during a series of misadventures that he later dubs his “Days of Folly.” Now he has returned, older and presumably wiser, in Merivel, a poignant sequel that begins some 15 years or so after the close of the previous novel.
Restored to Bidnold, the Norfolk estate that the king took from him in Restoration, Merivel is now a middle-aged country gentleman who shares his home with his teenage daughter, Margaret, and relies on the king’s largesse to meet his financial needs.
His medical practice and comfortable life should make him complacent and self-satisfied. But Merivel, known for his wit and good humor, is filled with ennui and melancholy. His gloom worsens when he learns that his beloved Margaret is planning an extended stay with a friend’s family in Cornwall, which would leave Merivel alone at Bidnold with his aged servants.
So Merivel seeks help from King Charles, who gives him a letter of introduction to the French king, Louis XIV. Sailing to France, Merivel makes a failed bid to become a physician at Versailles, where he falls in love with Louise de Flamanville, a married Swiss botanist. After running afoul of her husband, Merivel decides to return home, but not before rescuing a captive bear that he brings with him to England.
Adversity and good fortune both follow as Merivel’s life takes myriad turns, sometimes fueled by his impulsive nature and what he describes as his “animal appetites.” Through it all, his optimism waxes and wanes. Triumphs play out against setbacks. He is alternately upbeat and depressed as he grapples with a lingering sense that he has little to show for his life.
“I arrive very frequently at the suspicion that my life is a trifling thing, ill-lived, full of Misjudgement, Indulgence and Sloth, leading me only deeper and deeper into an abyss of Confusion and Emptiness, in which I no longer recall why I am alive,” he muses early on in the novel.
Merivel is a delightfully complex character, perhaps even more so than he was in Restoration because age has smoothed his rough edges a bit without fully erasing his roguish sensibilities. Now in his late 50s, he still “keeps laughter alive,” as King Charles puts it, yet he remains profoundly unhappy and dissatisfied.
A surprisingly modern man, Merivel is angst-ridden, a knave and jester who loves his daughter deeply and has a thoughtful, sometimes profound, outlook on his world. In addition to questioning the meaning of his escapade-filled life, he remains devoted both to the king and to the memory of a long-dead friend who disdained the excesses and frivolity of the court. His profound affection for animals says much about his character.
As The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper put it: “Robert Merivel is one of the great imaginative creations in English literature of the past 50 years.”
Merivel’s inner monologue, and the slightly stilted language he uses in conversation, have an appropriately antiquated sound that is never overbearing or distracting. The fact that Merivel routinely capitalizes common nouns at random adds to the novel’s period feel, as anyone who has read very old documents can appreciate.
Tremain provides enough historical context in Merivel to guide readers who are unfamiliar with Restoration, but Merivel offers a richer, more profound experience to those who have read the previous novel.
