But even those harshest critics of the author’s dark-hearted characters commend Philippa Gregory for her incredible writing style. While there is descript kissing, there are only vague references to sex...making this particular novel equally a novel for adults and YA. I liked this one less than book 2 and consider book 1 the better of the three. Wideacre (book 1) was an impeccable novel; The Favoured Child (book 2) was a bit disappointing, and, well, Meridon… Meridon was even more so.

I'm not going to lie; Will said one or two really dreamy, romantic things that make me want to tag this book as "can-I-have-him? hero-hall-of-fame". Beatrice Lacey is the daughter of the Squire of Wideacre, an estate situated on the South Downs, centered around Wideacre Hall. Devoted to her father, at the age of five years she falls in love with the estate and decides to stay there forever. Celia Lacey: Harry's wife, who later becomes the moral force for good against Beatrice's manipulative schemes. Her marriage to Harry is arranged, but she grows to love him for his gentleness. She is thrilled to accept Julia as her own daughter, as it is later discovered that she is unable to have children. When she becomes estranged from Harry, she falls in love with John, with whom she leaves and raises the children until they are murdered by Richard in The Favoured Child.Plot:It's been 11 years since Beatrice Lacey has ruined her beloved Wideacre. She leaves behind her daughter and son, Julia and Richard, to carry on the family name and run Wideacre. raised by their loving "Mama-Aunt" Celia, they are raised in the lands ruins while they learn the ways of the land. But the villagers are whispering; one of them is the favored child. Only one of them can feel the land and be connected by it. And over those tumultuous years, Richard and Julia will struggle for power over the control of Wideacre. Yet they do not know of their past, of their mother's past. Philippa Gregory is a historical novelist out of Britain. She has been writing since 1987. Philippa is best known for writing The Other Boleyn Girl which went on to win the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association. This book was totally different to my normal read, yet it was no less gripping. The author has a fantastic ability to make you see through the eyes of the character and to understand the passions within her, even if you don't always agree. This is a thought-provoking book but an excellent read. I'm not surprised that it did so well, or, that The Favoured Child and Meridon also became huge successes.

The Wideacre novels are quite controversial. Some people love them. Some people hate them. But everyone who has read them has strong feelings about them, and for good reason.

Publication Order of Anthologies

A lot of people struggle with the Wideacre series because most of its protagonists are terrible human beings, and yet the author expects readers to root for them. Some people have gone so far as to say that they couldn’t finish the first novel and chose not to read the other books in the trilogy simply because they could not stand to watch Beatrice and her kin get away with so much evil. In her introduction she said that she wrote this when she was finishing her phd and read a lot of sexy books of the 19th century and decided to write a pastiche, so that's why she used incest as a big plot point of the story. And I agree with her, I've noticed myself that for 19th century folks incest was a popular naughty kink. Is it because young people were isolated in their homes? I don't really know. Harry Lacey: Beatrice's older brother who is the new Squire of Wideacre. He is easily seduced by Beatrice, even though he knows what they're doing is wrong. Unlike the headstrong and stubborn Beatrice, Harry is timid and weak. He is also very dense, even though he was sent away to a private school for lessons. He is sexually attracted to Beatrice and has a sexual relationship with her throughout the novel, resulting in the birth of two children, Julia and Richard. He marries Celia, whom he grows to love and respect, and raises Julia without knowing she (and Richard) are his inbred offspring with Beatrice. He has a weak heart, which he dies from at the end.

This is a "historical fiction" novel (I put it in quotes because the only historical things thus far were petticoats and carriages driven by horses.), a story of Scarlett O'Hara/Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil type of protagonist who is a) horny, b) loves her land and c) is a manipulative psychopath. This is my first Philippa Gregory and it's her debut which is interesting. I love debuts by established genre fiction writers because even if they can become formulaic later on in their careers, debut is often creative and shows their passions. The story: Beatrice Lacey is passionately fond of the Wideacre estate where she has grown up and of which her father is Squire. So fond of it that she commits incest, murder and fraud to ensure that she stays on the land rather than let ownership pass to her brother Harry. Fortunately for Beatrice Harry is a blubber-butt bundle of appetites and perverted passions, and therefore easily handled, although Beatrice's husband and sister-in-law prove a bit harder to fool. In attempting to secure Wideacre for her son, Beatrice overreaches herself and effectively ruins the land she loves, bringing starvation to the villagers who once adored her. But they have a champion in Ralph, the gamekeeper's son whom Beatrice has loved and maimed, and who is now known as the Culler and is coming to get his revenge...This is an 18th century saga about the Lacey family, living on Wideacre, a country estate surrounded by woods and a village that were once bountiful havens, where the wealthy took care of their people, or a least until the obsessive, narcissistic, abusive, perverse and incestuous Beatrice Lacey grew up to literally ruin everything and everyone on the land. The last book is Meridon, Julia's daughter, Beatrice's granddaughter, conceived through so much incest it's amazing she can function. Meridon grew up unloved and cold and distant -- when she discovers Wildacre and her inheritance, all she can think about it how much money it will bring and how to make it hers. This book is the least raunchy because Meridon constantly tells every man she meets that she can't stand them and feels nothing for them. The Wideacre series is not necessarily Beatrice’s story. In fact, her presence is primarily restricted to the first novel. However, the character has such a powerful effect on the Wideacre estate and every life she touches that her presence continues to hover all the novels in this series.