Gardener to the King - Softcover

Richaud, Frederic

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860468772 ISBN 13: 9781860468773

Publisher: Harvill Panther, 2001

Synopsis

For Jean Baptiste de la Quintinie, kitchen gardener to Louis XIV, the potager at Versailles proved not only his artist's canvas but the seedbed of his revolutionary sympathies. August 1674. Louis XIV, one of Europe's most powerful sovereigns, celebrates his armies' victory over Holland. In Versailles, the favourite of the royal residences, his kitchen gardener, Jean Baptiste de la Quintinie, labours to make the espaliers and vegetable plots that feed the court nothing less than a work of art. Revered for his skill, and envied for his freedom, this brilliant, unworldly man stands apart from the diplomats, flatterers and self-servers that surround the monarch. But is his understanding of the soil and those who live by it enough to protect him as the Sun King's reign spirals into a regime of fear?

About this title

About the Author

Frederic Richaud was born in 1966. He works in Paris as a teacher and journalist. Gardener to the King is his first novel.

From Publishers Weekly

A refreshing departure from the sweeping historical novel, Richaud's slight but charming tale depicts the swirling world of Louis XIV's court as seen through the eyes of Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, the king's detached and philosophical gardener. La Quintinie, a little man with a mysterious past he abandoned a promising law career to become a horticulturist is an odd figure at the palace of Versailles, where flatterers and courtesans bask in the glow of the Sun King. Only La Quintinie seems able to escape the decadence of palace life, taking refuge in the beauty of his gardens and the changing of the seasons. Despite his reluctance to enter court, the little gardener strikes up a respectful friendship with the king, who takes genuine delight in his flourishing gardens. But La Quintinie much prefers his rustic routine to the fickle falseness of the city. When summoned to Paris at the behest of the king, he attends a masquerade ball where guests don outlandish disguises and gossip cattily about each other. Horrified, La Quintinie returns to the countryside and begins to involve himself in the lives of the impoverished workmen and peasants who live near Versailles, teaching them to garden and delivering seeds and manure to their homes. When he strikes up a correspondence with political radical Philippe de Neuville, La Quintinie must confront the injustice of the king's attitudes to the poor and his own complicity with the king's regime. Constructed of anecdotes, snatches of conversation and excerpts of the letters written by La Quintinie and Neuville, this novel is a contemplative read. Readers desiring a brief, elegant immersion into 17th-century France will find it to their liking.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvill Panther
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1860468772
• ISBN 13: 9781860468773
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128