Restoration by Rose Tremain

Restoration is set in the 17th century during the reign of Charles II, but that is where the history ends. I expected this book to be about Charles II or to reflect more of the history. I was disappointed. The main character, Robert Merivel, is not a likable protagonist. I found him to be quite irritating. He is a womanizer and is self-centered. The king takes him into his court as the physician. During his stay, the dog Minette becomes ill. Instead of curing the dog, he decides to have sex. Then the king has him wed his mistress Celia. His one instruction is to not fall in love with her, so what does he do? You guessed it. After Merivel is kicked out of court, he goes to stay with his Quaker friend John Pearce. While he is there, he takes care of some mentally ill patients. Just when you think that he is turning around, he can't control himself and sleeps with Katherine, a mental patient, and gets her pregnant. After John dies, he and Katherine leave to go live with her mother. In the end, Merivel does change his ways, but not until the very end.