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Review
Praise for Philppa Gregory:
‘Subtle and exciting.’ Daily Express
‘Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.’
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating.’ Sunday Times
‘Gregory's research is impeccable which makes her imaginative fiction all the more convincing.’ Daily Mail
Product Description
Philippa Gregory’s first novel and first in the bestselling Wideacre trilogy. A compelling tale of passion and intrigue set in the eighteenth century. From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin’s Lover.
‘If it was the way of the world that girls left home, then the world would have to change. I would never change.’
Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. But as a woman of the eighteenth century she has no right of inheritance. Corrupted by a world that mistreats women, she sets out to corrupt others. Sexual and wilful, she believes that the only way to achieve control over Wideacre is through a series of horrible crimes, and no-one escapes the consequences of her need to possess the land.
Sweeping, passionate, unique: 'Wideacre' is the novel which brought Philippa Gregory to bestselling fame and is the first of the trilogy which continued with 'The Favoured Child' and concluded with ‘Meridon’.
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Wideacre Hall faces due south and the sun shines all day on the yellow stone till it is warm and powdery to the touch. Read the first page
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Beatrice Lacey is desperately in love with the Wideacre estate which belongs to her family, but as a female in the eighteenth century, she cannot inherit. Despite the fact she knows the land better than anyone, she must watch the estate go to her brother Harry, who has no idea how to run it. The realisation of this prompts Beatrice to start a desperate quest to secure her place on the land, no matter what. At first, everything goes according to plan: she becomes almost a goddess on Wideacre (Beatrice means 'she who blesses'), gets married to a man who understands her and seems to have everything. But secrets from her past start to surface, and Beatrice becomes more and more desperate, taking and taking until the estate is on the verge of ruin. Her joy in life (food and sex), in Wideacre and in horses disappears, and there is nothing left.
It's interesting to watch the other characters change and grow with Beatrice. Her brother goes from a gifted young boy to a portly, boorish squire; Celia, his wife, matures from a wallflower into a pious, determined, brave young woman, the angel to Beatrice's devil; and John, Beatrice's husband, goes through hell and back. Beatrice, however, is different.
"If that was the way of the world, then the world would have to change. I would never change."
She makes this vow at five years old, but she sticks to it. However, one of the themes of the novel is adaptation. If you do not adapt, then eventually you must die in some way or another: this happens to her father, her first love, her mother, and eventually to Beatrice and Harry. At the ending, the air is cleansed, but you can see that it's not over yet.
The language in this novel is sometimes lyrical and sometimes crude. Beatrice is a compelling character, but difficult to like. There are many themes in this book: what women must do in a man's world to survive; paganism and Christianity; body and mind. It's a powerful read, very sensuous and full of life, but not for the faint-hearted.
I am writing this less than five minutes after reading the sequel to this book, 'The Favoured Child' and cannot stress enough how fantasic these two novels are, easily the best I have ever read, and as a self-confessed book worm this means they are the best among many.
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