Minority camp: population few and far between. I loved this book! The historical detail, the lush description, the formal but effective dialogue - not to mention the scandal and the drama. 'Wideacre' is like a Victorian gothic novel, but without any of the euphemism or inference, pulling no punches when it comes to sex and violence. As to the incest, which seems to be the element that disgusts most readers, this is a work of fiction, not a reference manual - Philippa Gregory neither condones or promotes the actions of her anti-heroine/villainess, and the reward for enduring Beatrice's base actions comes at the end, when she meets her fate.

Beatrice Lacey is a rare character in modern fiction: a truly strong and ambitious woman. Just because the goal she strives for, and the increasingly desperate and immoral means she employs to achieve it, are far from attractive or feminine, does not make her less independent or intelligent. She is not, God forbid, a 'feisty' heroine from fluffy romance novels, with bland, modern views wrapped up in period costume, who defies convention only until finding the right man; rather a spoiled, twisted, power-mad creation of eighteenth century double standards (and I think the inbreeding must have started a generation early). Beatrice Lacey reminds me of the characters played by Margaret Lockwood in old Gainsborough films, with the conventional yet weaker-willed Celia as her Patricia Roc. There is even a roguish lover, Ralph, and a lovesick suitor, John McAndrew, to match to the foul and fair beauties!

This is a gripping, unabashedly melodramatic novel with a thoroughly cold and cruel leading lady. If Becky Sharp of 'Vanity Fair' and Milady in 'The Three Musketeers' are wicked, then Beatrice Lacey is utterly inhuman. The first person narrative does not - cannot - make her sympathetic or redeem her in any way, but the reader understands, more than the other characters, how deeply unstable and unscrupulous Beatrice is. She is almost unbearable, but when Celia and John and the villagers start to recognise the monster she is, the pace of the final half of the book quickens rapidly. I was hooked, waiting for 'the Culler' to come to Wideacre, and for Beatrice's professed love of the land to bring destruction to her life and property.

On a nitpicking level, there are one or two anachronisms - reference to the guillotine, for instance - but overall Philippa Gregory hits the time and place spot on. After pausing for breath, I shall definitely read the next two books in the series. ( )

Skipped thru this wild tale of incest and greed. Beatrice of Wildacre Hall stops at nothing to possess the land she grew up in. ( )

This novel is garbage. I won't be reading any more Philipa Gregory books. ( )

I found this book greatly psychologically disturbing, ( )

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 use any means necessary to protect her ancestral heritage. Seduction, betrayal, even murder — Beatrice's passion is without apology or conscience. "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 living person who knows the extent of her plans...and her capacity for evil.

Sumptuously set in Georgian England, Wideacre is intensely gripping, rich in texture, and full of color and authenticity. It is a saga as irresistible in its singular magic as its heroine.

Having previously reviewed and enjoyed The Other Boleyn Girl by Gregory, I thought for sure that I would enjoy this book, as well. Many of my friends have read and enjoyed the series, so I had high hopes.

I didn't finish it.
I just couldn't do it.

I was intrigued by Beatrice and her plight (trying to own Wideacre in a time when women cannot own anything), and I was interested in her story. The plot got extremely repetitive, however.

Spoilers Warning for the Following! /strong>
I am by no means a prude, but the incest with her brother, while I understood why she did it, was just too much for me. I think it would have been alright if it hadn't been the fallback for the plot:
She and her brother are incestruous. That gives her slight success. She tries something else for more success. It doesn't work so she goes back to her brother for more moderate success. She tries something else. Fail. Brother. New idea again. Fail. Brother.
My God, I just couldn't take it anymore!
And the fact that he liked to be dominated was really just the cherry on the cake.

End spoilers.

I did care enough about the characters to want to read the epilogue before I decided to officially file the book away forever.
I don't know if I'll ever finish the series; I have an awfully large TBR pile of books that I'd rather read before I ever get to The Favored Child. ( )