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11th out of 25 books
—
92 voters
The Favored Child (The Wideacre Trilogy #2)
by
Philippa Gregory (Goodreads Author)
The Wideacre estate is bankrupt. The villagers are living in poverty and Wideacre Hall is a smoke-blackened ruin. But, in the Dower House, two children are being raised in protected innocence. Equal claimants to the estate, rivals for the love of the village, they are tied by a secret childhood betrothal but forbidden to marry. Only one can be the favored child. Only one c...more
Paperback, 624 pages
Published
June 17th 2003
by Touchstone
(first published June 1st 1989)
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Wow, what is this...a trilogy about incest? At least one of the characters was a reluctant participant for this second book in the trilogy. This family has more bad karma than Oedipus. All the aristocratic decadence makes you want to cheer for the French Revolution and the guillotine. Whopping story, though, in a pervy kind of way.
This is book 2 in a 3 part trilogy. Wideacre was the original book which started with Beatrice and her brother Harry. The Favored Child picks up with Beatrice's children Julia and Richard. I have read a lot of books but I've never read a book that I hated a character so much. Everytime Richard's name was even mentioned I wanted to slap him.
No spoilers if you have read book 1.
In Book 1, Beatrice makes sure that both her children are joint heirs for Acre. The children don't know it, but they are n...more
No spoilers if you have read book 1.
In Book 1, Beatrice makes sure that both her children are joint heirs for Acre. The children don't know it, but they are n...more
Themes continue from Wideacres...
The fun is in the main character's discovery of what you already know from Wideacres.
The fun is in the main character's discovery of what you already know from Wideacres.
OMG, I just overwrote my review for this one with ANOTHER review. *headdesk headdesk headdesk* Fuck it, I'm not rewriting it. So Review 2.0 will just be a series of incoherent ramblings written against the deadline of my laptop battery cacking on me.
* OMG, the gloomz & doomz in this one got me down, but not as much if I hadn't previously read The Girl From Storyville where the heroine also made all kinds of decisions that screwed her life six ways from Sunday, AND The Women of Eden which had...more
* OMG, the gloomz & doomz in this one got me down, but not as much if I hadn't previously read The Girl From Storyville where the heroine also made all kinds of decisions that screwed her life six ways from Sunday, AND The Women of Eden which had...more
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The Favored Child. It was the 2nd book in a trilogy. I have since read the 1st book- Widacre and the 3rd- Meridon. Ok...so the 1st and 2nd books were very annoying because you just HATE everyone in it. They basically make the same mistakes over and over proving that they are all idiots....who love incest apparently...anyway, the 3rd book was a little better b/c it was different than the first two and actually came to a resolution that wasn't totally idiotic as previous generations....plus no inc...more
Weirdly addictive, but twisted book. While appalled at what I was reading, couldn't put it down.
What is happening in the book is indeed quite outrageous, but I could just as well get over the more icky parts - stuff like that never bothered me in literature, it makes things a bit more spicy. What I cannot actually believe, or understand is how the main character could be so spineless and st00pid.
Why was there any admiration from the village in the first place? Julia never once put her foot dow...more
What is happening in the book is indeed quite outrageous, but I could just as well get over the more icky parts - stuff like that never bothered me in literature, it makes things a bit more spicy. What I cannot actually believe, or understand is how the main character could be so spineless and st00pid.
Why was there any admiration from the village in the first place? Julia never once put her foot dow...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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What a horrible book that I couldn't put down.
A little past the middle of the book I was getting frustrated
and di start to skim through it to see what was going to happen.
It was just too difficult to read what Richard was doing.
I wanted to reach into the book and strangle him. He needed to be
dumped into a deep, dark dungeon and suffer for the rest of his life.
Death was too good for him.
As for Julia...Ralph tried to make her see the light.
When she didn't tell John and her mom what Richard had d...more
A little past the middle of the book I was getting frustrated
and di start to skim through it to see what was going to happen.
It was just too difficult to read what Richard was doing.
I wanted to reach into the book and strangle him. He needed to be
dumped into a deep, dark dungeon and suffer for the rest of his life.
Death was too good for him.
As for Julia...Ralph tried to make her see the light.
When she didn't tell John and her mom what Richard had d...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
If you like Jane Austen, but wish it wasn't quite so vanilla - this trilogy is for you!
Each book is the story of a daughter of the grand estate, Wideacre. Julia is our heroine for this book.
If you are just looking for an easy period romance, I think you can have that here. My stepmother enjoyed this series, and she has no use for themes and discussion of those themes. Give her pretty dresses, pretty gardens to stroll in, grand balls, handsome men and fine marriages. She's a happy camper.
However...more
Each book is the story of a daughter of the grand estate, Wideacre. Julia is our heroine for this book.
If you are just looking for an easy period romance, I think you can have that here. My stepmother enjoyed this series, and she has no use for themes and discussion of those themes. Give her pretty dresses, pretty gardens to stroll in, grand balls, handsome men and fine marriages. She's a happy camper.
However...more
Well - moving straight from Wildacre to this book, I was less than surprised to find similar themes. Unfortunately, where I somehow couldn't keep myself from liking Beatrice (I know - horrible, right?), I just couldn't seem to get on Julia's side. Right off the bat I was annoyed at her for not standing up for herself to Richard - a theme which continued throughout the entire book. I even put the book down in disgust and didn't come back to it for an entire evening (gasp!) SO frustrated. The only...more
I wasn't quite so keen on this one. As in, seriously, incest was weird in the first book, and totally unnecessary in this one. And the emotional abuse and guilt tripping of Julia by Richard was just not on. Plus, I didn't connect with the characters in the same way. In Beatrice, there were elements of her personality which I liked, or recognised from myself, like the fact that she's stubborn and knows her own mind. That made her relatable for me, meaning that even when she did some horrific thin...more
I do not give many 1 stars. I also do not give many 5 stars. But, this story was really tough to take. I found myself skipping whole pages just to get through it. The main character, Julia Lacey, could not find her strength. Then, she found it. Then, she lost it again. And, found it at the end. Her cousin, Richard, was just vile. From his first introduction in the story he was a liar, a bully, mean spirited and you just knew he was evil. He was really over the top. The only other character that...more
I thought it was time to pick up another Philippa Gregory book. I truely am a fan, however, am feeling a little guilty. This is the 2nd book in a trilogy about eighteenth century England and the Wideacre estate. I love reading about this time period. Ms. Gregory has a theme of incest in the first and now the second book, thus my guilt. Putting that aside, it is quite high in drama and tells the story of 2 young children who think they are cousins, promise to marry each other (but are forbidden b...more
"The Favoured Child" is the second book in the Wildacre Trilogy. This trilogy follows the lives of three generations of a well to do family. Unfortunately I was not able to get my hands on the first book, "Wildacre", to read before "The Favoured Child". Despite that fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I do feel that having the background knowledge of what happened in this family the generation before would have been interesting but it is not necessary to follow the story.
This story follows th...more
This story follows th...more
2nd in the trilogy. Doesn't quite grab you like the first one. Seems like the brother is one of those pups that should have been drowned at birth.
Waiting to see what he does to screw up the protatagonists impending marriage.
Well, Richard is just completely insane, isn't he. And, as for Julia, I just kept screaming, "tell somebody, just tell somebody." Frustrating book to read.
Waiting to see what he does to screw up the protatagonists impending marriage.
Well, Richard is just completely insane, isn't he. And, as for Julia, I just kept screaming, "tell somebody, just tell somebody." Frustrating book to read.
It's bad.
It's painful to read.
I think Gregory enjoys torturing her characters a little TOO much.
I read pretty well until about page 450 or so, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I skimmed the rest. I HAD to see what happened but I didn't want to actually READ it.
It's painful to read.
I think Gregory enjoys torturing her characters a little TOO much.
I read pretty well until about page 450 or so, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I skimmed the rest. I HAD to see what happened but I didn't want to actually READ it.
4 likes · like · see review
When I started this book I immediately thought I would enjoy it more than Wideacre but by the time I got to the final third of the book Julia had turned from the strong young woman she was promising to be to an insipid little wet rag of a girl whose sense had left her. I found the change frustrating; however I do understand why it happened. I was glad when at the very end Julia found her voice again and would not be bent to Harry’s will without a fight. The story is heart breaking, as Harry gain...more
Great Sequel to Wideacre. You need to push yourself through the first few chapters but it is worth the effort, it all pays out in the end with a big finish.
I found myself yelling at the book at times for this child's ignorant perception on reality. It is obvious that Philippa wanted the characters to play out this way, and it makes it so much fun when you get to almost interact with the book . Made it feel like that scene in the movie of the "Neverending Story" where Sebastian is in the janitor...more
I found myself yelling at the book at times for this child's ignorant perception on reality. It is obvious that Philippa wanted the characters to play out this way, and it makes it so much fun when you get to almost interact with the book . Made it feel like that scene in the movie of the "Neverending Story" where Sebastian is in the janitor...more
Picking up where Wideare left off, The Favored Child loses no momentum as is as amazing as the first installment of Philippa Gregory’s Lacey saga.
Julia Lacey, joint heir to the Wideacre estate, tells the story of her family, her aunt Beatrice who ruined Wideacre, and her and her cousin’s, Richard, attempts to revitalize the estate again. But things go horribly wrong with the tragic death of a horse and a hawk, which see what the adults should have seen all along.
Love, cruelty, unexpected famil...more
Julia Lacey, joint heir to the Wideacre estate, tells the story of her family, her aunt Beatrice who ruined Wideacre, and her and her cousin’s, Richard, attempts to revitalize the estate again. But things go horribly wrong with the tragic death of a horse and a hawk, which see what the adults should have seen all along.
Love, cruelty, unexpected famil...more
The Favoured Child is the second book in a trilogy. The first book is about a woman called Beatrice that would do whatever it took to try and keep her ownership of her farm "Wideacre" (which is incidently the title of the first book) including incest, murder, driving her husband insane etc etc.
This book is a follow on of Beatrice's daughter and son (both as a result from her incestuous relations) although the daughter and son believe they are cousins. This story follows similar cruel and evil in...more
This book is a follow on of Beatrice's daughter and son (both as a result from her incestuous relations) although the daughter and son believe they are cousins. This story follows similar cruel and evil in...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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The second in the series, this one is about the children of the original two characters. Boy, do they repeat some of their parents' mistakes. It's a good lesson for telling all and not keeping secrets.
Wideacre estate has been burned to the ground. The tenants are tired of starving while the masters play. This series enables the readers to learn all the bad points of primogeniture, the rule that said the oldest male only inherited and got everything. A society with so many classes is quite alien...more
Wideacre estate has been burned to the ground. The tenants are tired of starving while the masters play. This series enables the readers to learn all the bad points of primogeniture, the rule that said the oldest male only inherited and got everything. A society with so many classes is quite alien...more
Jan 15, 2010
Melissa
added it
I HATE Richard, I haven't even finished the book yet, I'm so angry I just had to write about it!!! why dosent she tell anyone?? he ruined her betrothed marriage, raped her, deffo killed that poor horse near the begining of the book and is pure evil!!! OMG im so angry I wish I could jump into the story and sort it out!!! Why did he kill poor Clary? Why didnt julia clobber him around the head with a rock when he raped her? And she ends up marrying him??? what an idiot!!!I havent read the first boo...more
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I'm working my way through the Wideacre trilogy. The second book continues the themes of the first one and is written in the same style. Pagan gods, seeing the future, and other phenomenon repeat throughout the book. It is dark and full of suspense.
But it also tells a very modern story, despite its eighteenth century setting. The main character deals with a changing economy, changing way of doing business, she deals with romance, and she deals with cruel emotional and physical abuse. While the c...more
But it also tells a very modern story, despite its eighteenth century setting. The main character deals with a changing economy, changing way of doing business, she deals with romance, and she deals with cruel emotional and physical abuse. While the c...more
This book was pretty terrible. The characters were just outrageous spanning between spineless and overly cruel without any sort of basis. I am still amazed that the theme continues that the poor peasants who have been working the land for generations are portrayed as being so stupid that they actually do not know when it is going to rain. Somehow, the squires who live in a large manor house and are to socially have nothing to do with the land know it all instead. They know when it is going to ra...more
This is the second book in the Wideacre sereis. Julia Lacey want sto be the next squire of Wideacre but her cousin Richard, is bound to become the squire. she makes friends in the town of Wideacre and eventually marries Richard. Her mother, best friend, uncle, stable hand and a boy named Mathew Merry are all killed by her brother, she thinks he is insane. She becomes pregnant and must stay his wife. This book was ok but it was kind of slow. I liked the ending best but I did not like her brother...more
This is a salacious summer read. It isn’t great literature, but it was a fun book. If anything, it does feel like Philippa Gregory invests a lot of time with Historical research. I am not a Historian and don’t care enough to look it up, but she peppers her books with so many details and terms that are not used today, that it feels accurate. Also, I am guessing that even with a book like this, she would be slammed if she didn’t take care to make it as accurate as possible. I appreciate the detail...more
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This book is the second in a trilogy .... and I didn't know that when I read it. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. A friend of mine got me started reading this author's books, which otherwise I probably never would have read, because this time period in England is not one I thought I had much interest in. But, I have found all of the books from this era to be fascinating. I was really drawn into this story, especially since there are some almost "mystical" elements to it, which I do enjoy. Now,...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbolism - Spoilers | 1 | 4 | Feb 05, 2013 05:22am |
Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a TV drama and a major film. Published in 2009, the bestselling The White Queen, the story of Elizabeth Woodville, ushered in a new series involving The Cousins’ War (now known as The War of the Roses) and a new era for the acc...more
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Mar 20, 2009 09:19pm