The Physician of London: The Second Part of the Seventeenth-Century Trilogy of Nicholas Cooke [Hardcover]

Stephanie Cowell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

The eponymous physician-hero of Nicholas Cooke becomes fast friends with the ambitious priest, Thomas Wentworth, with whom he vies for the love of the beautiful Cecilia, in a rich, amusing historical novel set in seventeenth-century England.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephanie Cowell's The Physician of London, propels the reader into a fictional 17th-century England that is brought beautifully to life. A sequel to Nicholas Cooke, The Physician of London finds a middle-aged Nicholas amidst the degenerating Stuart monarchy and a cast of Elizabethan characters that includes archbishop William Laud, actor friends of Shakespeare, and the physician William Harvey. Early on in the book the physician and priest befriends a young landowner, Thomas Wentworth, whom he finds in a faint outside his house. As history unfolds, Nicholas and Thomas form a science society, fall in love with the same woman, and eventually diverge into different political camps. Meanwhile, England is divided by the struggle for power between the established monarchy and the increasingly strong landed gentry.

For a historical novel to succeed it has a two-fold task: to live up to the facts of the time period in which it is placed, and to sustain an interesting plot without becoming mired in historical detail. The Physician of London does this with ease, moving back and forth between characters and situations both real and imagined while using a prose style that seems completely believable for the setting. Cowell's love for the time period is obvious, but she never allows the book to be overwhelmed by history. Instead, her novel is firmly grounded in the complex and conflicted character of Nicholas Cooke--proving that while fashions and phrases change, some things about human nature never do.

From Publishers Weekly

The absorbing sequel to Cowell's first novel, Nicholas Cooke, is imbued with the same measured gravity, poetic and bawdy language and grasp of the political, social, religious and cultural history of Elizabethan/Stuart England that distinguished its predecessor. Set in the years between 1617 and 1648, the narrative captures a turbulent epoch in English history, the period of the Stuart monarchies; its action presages but does not include the Civil War. Though priest and physician Cooke is again the nominal protagonist, it is the historical figure of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, who seizes the reader's imagination and sympathies. Wentworth's rise to power as a member of King Charles's Privy Council, his tragic fall and his heroic sacrifice to save the crown are depicted with compassionate insight. Cowell portrays him as a brilliant, complex man, whose fierce ambition and firm belief in the unity of state, church and sovereign were undermined by his rashness and intemperance. Nicholas, too, remains conflicted about the balance of the spiritual and the temporal in his life, but he finds solace in his union with enchanting bluestocking Cecilia. Actual historical figures are equally well depicted, especially William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, and medical pioneer William Harvey. The narrative is leisurely but always engaging; built on a solid foundation of period details, both minute and wide-ranging, it appraises the burgeoning field of science, the roots of religious controversy and the struggle between the landed gentry and the Stuart monarchy. One looks forward to the third volume of the trilogy, which will undoubtedly treat the years of Cromwell's reign.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1st edition (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393038734
• ISBN-13: 978-0393038736
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,915,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My fifth novel CLAUDE & CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF CLAUDE MONET was published April 6th 2010. It was a work of tremendous passion for me to create Claude in his days of struggle to make a name for himself and to bring to life his great love for the elusive Camille whom he went on loving for as long as he lived though he lost her young. He wasn't always the old bearded man among his water lilies; he was handsome and desperately poor and she was beautiful; he wanted to succeed for himself and for her.

Art has been in my life since my first memories; both my parents were artists and I grew up with the smell of oil paints and was taken to art galleries; the stories of the impressionists' lives and works are among my earliest memories.

I was born in New York City and fell in love with history, music, Shakespeare and art almost at once. I loved all things English and European.

I started to write stories very young, and by the age of twenty had won prizes twice in a national story contest. In my early twenties, I left writing and began to train my voice for opera, and as a lyric coloratura soprano sang many roles, including a great deal of Mozart. I also became a balladeer with a specialty in English folk songs, a lecturer on English social history, formed a classical singing ensemble and an opera group called Strawberry, for which I translated Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito." This led to my return to writing.

"Nicholas Cooke: Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest" was published by W.W. Norton in the fall of 1993; it was followed by "The Physician of London" in 1995 and "The Players: A novel of the young Shakespeare" in 1997. "The Physician of London" won an American Book Award. "Marrying Mozart" was published in 2004, and has been translated into several languages: French, German, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese.

I am married to the poet and spiritual director Russell Clay. We make our home on the Upper West Side of New York City where we live in an apartment with thousands of books.

To me, being an historical novelist is one of the best things in the world!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stunning accomplishment, September 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Physician of London: The Second Part of the Seventeenth-Century Trilogy of Nicholas Cooke (Hardcover)

This author knows her stuff! Reading Stephanie Cowell on London is like being there. A wonderfully evocative tale of life during Shakespeare's time. Not to be missed by those who love period fiction done expertly. A gifted writer.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I felt so involved I couldn't put the book down., February 16, 1998

By 

Rebecca L. Latson (Angleton, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Physician of London: The Second Part of the Seventeenth-Century Trilogy of Nicholas Cooke (Hardcover)

When I began reading the first chapters of Nicholas Cooke, I wasn't sure I liked his character. He was so hot-tempered and didn't seem to appreciate some people as he should have. As I continued to read on into the Physician of London, and as Nicholas continued to mature into the man he became in The Physician of London, I found myself more and more involved with this man and his life. I realized that his character, his desires and dreams and his conflicts, reminded me of my own desires and dreams and conflicts. Like a good cook, Stephanie Crowell flavors the book wonderfully with the Elizabethan/Stuart atmosphere and writes in such a way as to involved the reader not only in the main character, but all the characters. She has made this reader at least impatient for the publishing of the last book in the trilogy of Nicholas.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Physician of London, October 9, 2011

By 

bbw "bbw" (New York State, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Physician of London: The Second Part of the Seventeenth-Century Trilogy of Nicholas Cooke (Hardcover)

The second book of a trilogy by Stephanie Cowell. Follows Nicholas Cooke into his adult life as a minister and physician in London during the final days of King James 1 rein into the turbulent days of King Charles. The history is true and the story intrigueing. I loved it and wish she had written the third edition but cannot find it anywhere. e-mail to her on facebook has not been answered. She has written Claude and Camille, so I guess I will read that. She is a very good writer.