Beatrice Lacey, daughter of Wideacre Hall, will not accept society’s rules that women cannot inherit…The internationally bestselling debut from the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and Three Sisters, Three Queens.
Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. Built from yellow stone, facing due south and surrounded by the rich woodlands and rolling downs of Sussex, it has been in her family for generations. But as a woman in England in the 1770s she has no right of inheritance; only a loveless arranged marriage lies ahead. Beautiful, sensual and passionate, Beatrice sets out to pursue her own goal: control over Wideacre – at any cost.
Yet even as her scheming succeeds, Beatrice is haunted by the one person alive who fully understands her obsession and knows her capacity to let nothing – and no-one – stand in her way.
The 30th anniversary edition, with new foreword by the author.
About the Author :
PHILIPPA GREGORY is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first novel, Wideacre, when she was completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature. Wideacre was sold worldwide and heralded as a literary sensation on publication. The novel is the first in a trilogy, succeeded by The Favoured Child and Meridon.
The release of Wideacre launched Philippa Gregory as a new interpreter of historical fiction, one focused on women as active agents in a historical period. The bestselling Tudor Court and Cousins’ War novels display her unrivalled talent in discovering the hidden stories, especially of women, in familiar history, skilfully combining period biographical research, psychological truth and fictional detail.
In 2016, Philippa was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers’ Association. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds an honorary degree from Teesside University, and is a fellow of the universities of Sussex and Cardiff. She lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire and welcomes visitors to her site www.PhilippaGregory.com.
Review :
Praise for Philippa Gregory:
‘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
‘For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating’ Sunday Times
‘Gregory's research is impeccable which makes her imaginative fiction all the more convincing’ Daily Mail
‘A story of violent love and unsettling passions. It will never let you rest for a page as you wait for the climax that must come for the people and the land’ Maeve Binchy
‘Subtle and exciting’ Daily Express
