Wideacre: Book 1 (The Wideacre Trilogy)

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Wideacre is a series of historical fiction novels written by Philippa Gregory. The books follow the exploits of a family whose obsession with a grand estate destroys them. The same is true for Meridon - I do believe Meridon/Sarah’s intellect and viability would help her manage the abrupt transition from being a hungry and unloved traveller child to a landed gentry young lady, as she did in the book, while her young age would make her vulnerable to the dishonourable people’s schemes and distrustful to the honourable people’s good intentions, just as it did in the book, too. Because I loved the beginning and disliked the end, I give "Wideacre" three stars. Not a bad read and I do intend to read the next two books in the series.

So this story is all about Julia and Richard, the illegitimate bastard children of Beatrice and Harry Lacey. They do not know that they are brother and sister, and are brought up by Celia Lacey as cousins. During childhood Julia is a sweet and caring child, whose main ambition in life is to earn smiles from her mama. Richard on the other hand, shows disturbing signs of being cruel and sadistic person. He bullies his cousin Julia, and enjoys being able to smile and charm anyone he wants. My best friend gave me the set of these books for Christmas (and she's a preacher's wife!), knowing that I love Philippa Gregory.While I would have wished Julia in The Favoured Child a happy ending, I appreciate that the fate Philippa Gordon gave her was much more realistic. Beatrice Lacey is willful and beautiful, and she has a keen mind. Unfortunately, society in the 18th Century expects her to wed, birth children and then care for her family. But Beatrice refuses to conform to society’s expectations. This paragraph is one of the most simplest ways to describe these major theme that places through all three books. It is exactly this message that Beatrice, Julia, and Meridon struggle with in their own way. They think it all about the money, when it's truly not. They struggle to love others and they struggle to love their own land. It's this idea of happiness that both Beatrice and Julia failed at, but Meridon achieves. Books 1 and 2 had unhappy endings. People died and they themselves died. Meridon gets her happy ending with Will and the money means nothing to her in the end.

Philipa Gregory delves into some rather disturbing waters as she brings the lives of the Lacey family to her readers. 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. 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. I was kind of impressed that Richard got away with all his crimes for so long. I suspected he had killed Clary, but I couldn't figure out what the reason for that was. He later revealed that she saw him raping Julia. When Richard told Julia he would have killed her had she not been pregnant and then remarried another girl, I kind of wanted to see that play out. Julia was no Beatrice, though she had the same gift for the land. Julia was Celia 2.0. Celia couldn't have raised Julia in her image better. I didn't understand the ending. Julia planned to kill her daughter once she was born to rid Wideacre of any heirs/squire, but instead she wanted the land for her daughter when she came of age. (After she accidentally gave her off to a Gypsy woman in a reverie.)Wideacre is a 1987 historical novel by Philippa Gregory. This novel is Gregory's debut, and the first in the Wideacre trilogy that includes The Favoured Child (1989) and Meridon (1990). Set in the second half of the 18th century, it follows Beatrice Lacey's destructive lifelong attempts to gain control of the Wideacre estate. Richard MacAndrew: Son of Beatrice and Harry. He is passed off as John's son by Beatrice and later raised by John and Celia. As deceptive and sociopathic as his mother, Richard is determined to fulfill Beatrice's wish of claiming Wideacre by marrying Julia. When his position is threatened by Julia and others, he murders those who stand in his way, and rapes Julia, resulting in a pregnancy and birth of a daughter, Sarah. The night of his child's birth, Richard is murdered by Ralph. Love Triangle?:Yes; Richard vs. Julia vs. James, a kindly suitor. Richard quashes this romance like a bug.