Wideacre

Wideacre, Book 1

By: Philippa Gregory

Narrated by: Emma Powell

Featuring a foreword recorded exclusively for Audible by Philippa Gregory and an interview with the author.

Philippa Gregory's first story in the best-selling Wideacre trilogy. A compelling tale of passion and intrigue set in the 18th century. From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover.

Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. But as a woman of the 18th century, she has no right of inheritance. Corrupted by a world that mistreats women, she sets out to corrupt others.

Sexual and willful, she believes that the only way to achieve control over Wideacre is through a series of horrible crimes, and no-one escapes the consequences of her need to possess the land.

©2006 Philippa Gregory (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"The eighteenth-century woman is a neglected creature but, in the figure of her heroine, Philippa Gregory has defined a certain kind of wildness.... This is a novel written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows." (Peter Ackroyd, The Times)

Oh yes, so so good!

I was skeptical by the description, but this novel kept me in rapt attention. I had a hard time focusing on anything else wanting to know what was going to happen next!

Downton Abbey meets Flowers in the Attic

Not the typical Philippa Gregory. Complete fiction with little historical details other than time period. Lots of incestual sex scenes that I was not expecting....

An entertaining read

A Gothic bodice ripper. Lots of passion and bad behavior, but mixed with a sensitive handling of class issues during the time period.

Like watching a train wreck

I mean it in the best way, but the way the story unfolds is like watching a train wreck. You see the disaster unfolding before you, but you can't look away! My jaw was on the floor half the time. A couple times, I had to go back because I was sure I'd heard something wrong, but nope, I heard correctly, and was floored. There's a second book that I don't know if I'll read (I will) because I don't know if I'm ready for the emotional rollercoaster (I'm not) or the further impossibility that the next book will be wilder than the first.

Like it or not this book will stay in your mind.

It’s hard to say, if I liked or dislike this book. The main character, Beatrice becomes so detestable and vile but you cannot turn away. I had to keep listening to see what became of her. The audio retelling was very well done the dramatic reading kept me interested. I will admit to fast forwarding through some of the portions that were overly wordy and the disturbing uncomfortable incestuous parts. But I cannot say that it was not well written, and well performed, and therefore I did stay till the very end of the book, and will now most likely listen to the second part in the series.