Wideacre (Philippa Gregory) Review
*Doesn’t contain any spoilers that reveals the plot in the book.
Wideacre
by Philippa Gregory
Beatrice Lacey, as strong-minded as she is beautiful, refuses to conform to the social customs of her time. Destined to lose her family name and beloved Wideacre estate once she is wed, Beatrice will uses any means necessary to protect her ancestral heritage. “She is a Lacey of Wideacre,” her father warns,”and whatever she does, however she behaves, will always be fitting.” Yet even as Beatrice’s scheming seems about to yield her dream, she is haunted by the one person who knows the extent of her plans…and her capacity for evil.
Incest (and a LOT of it). Love. Rape. Betrayal. Murder. Deception. Fraud. Greed.
Two words I have to describe this Wideacre: WOW and OVERWHELMING. The wow isn’t really a good “wow” either and the book was way over the top— so much that I actually had to stop reading it for a while because I couldn’t take much too much of the it at a time, nevertheless, I was too intrigued to not finish it and at the end I had to admit, it was a beautifully written tragedy although disgustingly descriptive with themes that may be uncomfortable for most.
I’ve never hated a protagonist as much as I hated Beatrice Lacey but I found myself routing for her while getting irritated at the righteous characters who were always trying to set her right. Maybe that’s why this book creeped me out so much— because I sided with someone so dark and evil like Beatrice.
I’m a huge fan of Philippa Gregory, but there was way too much incest in this book for my taste. If you can somehow force yourself to put that all aside like I did, you’ll find a book that captures very well the essence of the era, successfully engages the reader with the characters and makes them feel every emotion the characters are going through, whether good or bad. It’s dark, overwhelming but a very intense and fascinating read.
I highly recommended it to: a) lovers of historical fiction, b) if you’re looking for an intense novel to engage yourself into c) you choose none of the above but you just love trashy, scandalous novels. 
I give Wideacre a 6.5/10. It makes me feel dirty to even admit I liked this book (despite all the ickyness)! Hah. I even picked up book 2 of the trilogy today: The Favored Child.
KATY:
chanel (1)
jen (1)
Kathy (1)
magalaya (1)
neyugn (1)
Incest just remains of her other work: “The Other Boleyn” (heh, someone gave it away this information to me…) however Gregory always manage to captivate audiences because she uses so much history in her novels. I have yet to finish “The Other Boleyn” because of school readings but I’m excited to.
That is a good reason to be creeped out: amazed by the “evil” villain. Reminds me of admiring the character of Satan in the beginning of Paradise Lost. Totally annoyed me too.
REPLY
Katy
October 14th, 2008 |
It does somewhat occur in The Other Boelyn, but not as much as Wideacre… which recurs in like every page. Kinda really disturbing! Nevertheless, I think Philippa Gregory is a powerful writer and knows how to captivate her audience well.
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Wow, the summary made it sound like Beatrice was the GOOD character, up until the final line, at least! This sounds really, really interesting, I’m going to check it out as soon as exams are over and done with
Thanks for the review!
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based off all her books I read, I read pretty much all of them and have m ost of them with the except of Wise Women which is coming along with another one of her book, The Favored Child is still a bit mess up but a little bit better than Wideacre. The Wideacre trilogy is the darkest of her books but its still a good read. I was actually more annoyed at some parts of the last book. You should read Virgin Earth, its sister book and I forgot the other one about slave trading. If anything I love how vividly Philippa writes.
REPLY
Katy
October 14th, 2008 |
Damn Christine, I’m scared! You have no idea how mad I got reading The Favored Child but if Meridon annoyed you, I’m scared what it would do to me!
I read the synopsis for Earthly Joys and Virgin Earth, and as much as I love historical fiction, I find some of Philippa Gregory’s books a little too slow for me… but I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover (or it’s description in this case).
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i always read your book reviews, or i try to? i dont know what books to read EVER and i try not to go for anything too thick because my schedule doesnt allow extensive reading and if i stop half way i dont know if i can easily pick it up again given time constraints.
anyways im reading abundance, marie antoinette book. it’s really good, im captivated whenever i DO get the chance to read.
so this book is good, despite its ickiness?
anything else you recommend?
i <3 historical novels!!! bring them on!
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Katy
October 14th, 2008 |
Yep I think Wideacre is a really good read… just try not to mind the incest so much.
Check out my library section!! Most of my “completed” books were really good unless I gave them a super low rating.
if you like historical fiction, you should read “Wild Swans,” or “Mao’s Last Dancer.” I especially love reading historical fiction based in China.
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[...] BUT SERIOUSLY … this IS a very good book despite that ONE point I mentioned above just because I have super low tolerance of that stuff (especially when it happens in real life!!). I said it sucked, but I still recommend it if you read Wideacre. [...]