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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The best thing I can say about Wideacre is that it was very well-written. For a debut novel, Ms. Gregory was able to evoke a lot of emotion in her readers. However, the main character, Beatrice Lacey, was absolutely abhorrent. She was evil to the core, and Gregory made the readers very aware of this throughout the book, with the incest, seduction, murder, and other immoral and terrible things that Beatrice did -- all in the name of her country home, Wideacre.
I read this book -- well, the majority of it -- with my mom, and neither of us liked it. I actually had to skip parts of it because they were too, well, evil for me to be comfortable reading. Well done, Ms. Gregory, for evoking such emotion in one of your earliest novels, but I am surprised that you have garnered such a wide readership after debuting with a novel such as this.
I am hoping that the rest of the books in this trilogy will be better since Beatrice will not be featured in them (also, neither of the other two books say anything about "...seduction, betrayal, even murder..." -- from the blurb of Wideacre, so I think it makes sense that they might be a little less awful than the first of this trilogy was).
I read this book -- well, the majority of it -- with my mom, and neither of us liked it. I actually had to skip parts of it because they were too, well, evil for me to be comfortable reading. Well done, Ms. Gregory, for evoking such emotion in one of your earliest novels, but I am surprised that you have garnered such a wide readership after debuting with a novel such as this.
I am hoping that the rest of the books in this trilogy will be better since Beatrice will not be featured in them (also, neither of the other two books say anything about "...seduction, betrayal, even murder..." -- from the blurb of Wideacre, so I think it makes sense that they might be a little less awful than the first of this trilogy was).
I love Philippa Gregory's writing and she is well researched in that era, but it was hard to empathise with any of the characters at all. I was still compelled to read the entire book and will probably read the rest of the trilogy as well, but I certainly didn't enjoy it as much as her other novels; think I will stick to Gregory's novels based on the monarchy as I like these much more.
This is such a strong and determined female lead character it's almost disappointing what she puts these "talents" toward. This book continued to surprise me. Once I thought I had read it all the next page would bring a whole new level of debacle and depravity. Definitely not as good as her later stuff but still a decent read. Not sure if I will read the others in this trilogy.
I knew about the violence and the incest. but towards the end the main character started to make decisions that didn't seem logical for her. the whole situation git out of control and I couldn't wait for the book to be finished. on to something a bit more positive ;)
I read the first chapter and could see where the whole story was going. Scarlett O'Hara Beatrice is not, nor is Philippa Gregory a Margaret Mitchell. It seems Gregory wanted to write an O'Hara-esque story where O'Hara is completely depraved. I'm glad I didn't venture as far as the incest scenes.
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have never encountered a character like Beatrice Lacey who was so obsessed with something that they would go to extremes to get it. Be an accessory to her father's murder. Sure, no problem. Lure her lover into a trap to disable him. Checked. Make her mother sick when she was suspicious of Beatrice's relationship with her brother. Yup. Seduce her brother to control him and Wildacre. Just another Tuesday for Beatrice. The list goes on and on. I would recommend this one if you like a scandalous family drama with a historical setting. I hesitate to call it a romance because what Beatrice has convinced herself is love is not real. Her mother said it best: "I am so afraid for you—for your extreme passions. First, you adored your father to such a height of feeling, then you transferred that affection to Harry. All the time, you will do nothing but roam the land as if you were a ghost haunting the place. It frightens me to see you fixed on Wildacre."
The full book review is up : https://thecatwithabook.wordpress.com/2020/05/16/book-review-wideacre/
Let me know what you think!
Let me know what you think!