Meridon

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  5/5

 

 

Pages: 568

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: originally 1990, this edition 2002

ISBN: 978-0-00-651463-3

Summary (via Goodreads)
 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl comes the final book of the extraordinary Wideacre trilogy as the heir to the great estate comes home at last.

Meridon knows she does not belong in the dirty, vagabond life of a gypsy bareback rider. The half-remembered vision of another life burns in her heart, even as her beloved sister, Dandy, risks everything for their future. Alone, Meridon follows the urgings of her dream, riding in the moonlight past the rusted gates, up the winding drive to a house—clutching the golden clasp of the necklace that was her birthright—home at last to Wideacre. The lost heir of one of England’s great estates would take her place as its mistress...

Meridon is a rich, impassioned tapestry of a young woman’s journey from dreams to glittering drawing rooms and elaborate deceits, from a simple hope to a deep and fulfilling love. Set in the savage contrasts of Georgian England—a time alive with treachery, grandeur, and intrigue—Meridon is Philippa Gregory’s masterwork.

 

Review

This Final instalment of the Wideacre trilogy for me ended the books perfectly. Gregory created in these three books three strong female leads that were remembered for completely different reasons.

What I enjoyed with this book was the way she brought new settings into the story that allowed the reader to get more of  idea of what Georgian England would have been like for the poor and the rich. For me these books show a great deal about what can happen when tenants get along with their landlords and what happens when they don't, to the tragic end.

The Favoured Child

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  5/5

Pages: 630

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: originally 1989, this edition 2001

ISBN: 978-0-00-723002-0

Summary (via Goodreads)

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 can inherit the magical understanding between the land and the Lacey family that can make the Sussex village grow green again. Only one can be Beatrice Lacey's true heir.

Sensual, gripping, sometimes mystical, "The Favored Child" sweeps the reader irresistibly into the eighteenth century, a revolutionary period in English history. This rich and dramatic novel continues the saga of the Lacey family started in Philippa Gregory's bestselling and enduringly popular "Wideacre."

Review

This second book in the Wideacre Trilogy follows the story of the two heirs to the estate, which is still reeling from the chaos that Beatrice started. Told through the eyes of Julia Lacey, one claimant to this addictive and haunted estate, the reader follows as history repeats itself and once again, the land of Wideacre brings turmoil and tragedy to the lives of those there.

The Favoured Child shows how obsession can become a family curse and how this curse can expand into several generations causing enough destruction to almost wipe out an entire family.

When reading I found myself feeling really sorry for Julia as she learned the horrid truth about her family and the secrets her parents kept from her. How much do we really know about the generations who come before us?

After reading these first two books I couldn't wait to read the last instalment of the trilogy, Meridon.

Wideacre

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  5/5

Pages: 622

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: origionally 1987, this edition 2001

ISBN: 978-0-00-723001-3

Summary (via Goodreads)

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory comes the stunning first novel of a thrilling trilogy about the Lacey family, and the captivating woman at the heart of a power-hungry estate willing to go to any means to protect her family name.

Beatrice Lacey, as strong-minded as she is beautiful, refuses to conform to the social customs of her time. Destined to lose her heritage and beloved Wideacre estate once she is wed, Beatrice will use any means necessary to protect her ancestral name. 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 from the “queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY), 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.

 

Review

At what point does ambition become obsession, that is the main question that is book brings to light. The first book in the Wideacre series follows Beatrice, the young and beautiful heiress of the Wideacre estate. After discovering she will be overlooked for her brother she struggles to conform to the strict cultural customs of Georgian England she comes up with a devious and dangerous plan to gain control of the land she loves.

Betrayal, lust and desire are the main themes behind this story and Gregory portrays each to their full impact. Beatrice for me presents one of the few lead characters that I completely hate as much as I admire and I found that I couldn't put this book down, I needed to know the ending. Beatrice is unyielding in her desires and, in my opinion, seems to go mad for power.

Elsewhere

by Gabrielle Zevin

Rating:  5/5

Pages: 273

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Publication Date: 2005

ISBN: 0-7475-7720-X

Summary (via Goodreads)

 

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

     Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

     This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

 

Review

Elsewhere is a beautifully written, well laid-out story about loss, endings, new beginnings and acceptance. Following the story of Liz, a barely sixteen year old who dies suddenly as she learns to adapt to her new after-life, the reader is absorbed into a new theory on what happens when we die - we age backwards until we are reborn! For me, this book showed how even after we die, life moves on, both on earth and for the dead themselves.

The book is a charming coming of age story that at times will pull on your heart strings or just as easily make you laugh aloud. I especially love the last word part!! For me personally, this book helped me accept and move on from the death of a loved one, and I highly recommend it to any lover of books.

The Constant Princess

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  4/5

 

 

Pages: 490

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 2005

ISBN: 978-0-00-719031-7

Summary (via Goodreads)

"I am Catalina, Princess of Spain, daughter of the two greatest monarchs the world has ever known...and I will be Queen of England."

Thus, bestselling author Philippa Gregory introduces one of her most unforgettable heroines: Katherine of Aragon. Known to history as the Queen who was pushed off her throne by Anne Boleyn, here is a Katherine the world has forgotten: the enchanting princess that all England loved. First married to Henry VIII's older brother, Arthur, Katherine's passion turns their arranged marriage into a love match; but when Arthur dies, the merciless English court and her ambitious parents -- the crusading King and Queen of Spain -- have to find a new role for the widow. Ultimately, it is Katherine herself who takes control of her own life by telling the most audacious lie in English history, leading her to the very pinnacle of power in England.

Set in the rich beauty of Moorish Spain and the glamour of the Tudor court, The Constant Princess presents a woman whose constancy helps her endure betrayal, poverty, and despair, until the inevitable moment when she steps into the role she has prepared for all her life: Henry VIII's Queen, Regent, and commander of the English army in their greatest victory against Scotland.

Review

The Constant Princess follows the life of Henry VIII's first wife, Katherine of Aragon from before her first marriage to Henry's older brother, Prince Arthur, to her court trial near the end of her reign. Gregory shows Katherine as the woman I believe her to have been, strong, courageous, brave and determined. Despite the struggles of her first marriage right to its tragic end, Katherine is determined she will become Queen of England. The reader follows to from Spain into the strange, cold lands of England that for her, were completely foreign. Despite the strangeness of the land and the differences in culture, Katherine embraced the English people and cemented herself in their hearts, making her one of the most popular and most loved queens of Henry's many future wives.

When reading this book it becomes clear that, in spite of all the hardhships she faced, Katherine was an amazing women who was every bit the queen she appeared, even refusing to give up the title until she died.

The Constant Princess is the first book in the Tudor novel series and starts the collection of with a passionate mix of love, betrayal and fierce determination.

The Queens Fool

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  4/5

 

Pages: 490

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 2007

ISBN: 978-0-00-714729-8

Summary (via Goodreads)

 

A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love.

It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.

Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen's Fool is another rich and emotionally resonant gem from this wonderful storyteller.

 

Review

I really enjoyed this book: a story within a story. I admired Hannah and how she bravely stuck to who she really was despite how easy it would have been in Tudor England to just turn her back on her own religion. This is why I love Philippa Gregory's books so much, she brings history to life through fiction and despite the differences that exist between women of the Tudor dynasty and now, there would still have been similarities. Her female characters are always strong and determined women who make the most of their situations.

For me, this book really showed how hard life would have been for those that didn't fit the "correct" English citizen and what happened to those caught. It brings to life the question of What would you do in that situation? Would you stick to your own beliefs or would you conform?

I recommend this book for its beautifully described settings and the amazing lives of the royal Tudor children described through the eyes of a complete outcast.

The Other Boleyn Girl

by Philippa Gregory

Rating:  5/5

 

 Pages: 529 pages

Publishers: Harper Collins

Publication Date: 2001

ISBN: 978-0-00-651400-8

Summary (via Goodreads)

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: The love of a king

When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realises just how much she is a pawn in her family's ambitious plots as the king's interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king and take fate into her own hands.

A rich and compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamourous court in Europe and survived by following her heart.

Review

Philippa Gregory brings to life the amazing, yet overlooked life of Mary Boleyn, sister to one of England's most notorious and well known queens, Anne Boleyn. Focusing on the mixture of rivalry and love that exists between the two sisters, Gregory gives the reader insight into the ambition of the Tudor court and the scandal that could raise a family up or bring them crashing down. Through the eyes of Mary we learn about the lust and passion that Henry VIII lived by and how a single suggestion can become the most tragic of obsessions, in this case an obsession that reshaped England forever and cemented Henry VIII firmly in his place in history as the terrifying tyrant we all now know.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found it to breath taking in its description of the architecture and culture of the time. I found myself rooting for Mary despite my prior knowledge of the gruesome ending her family faced and wanting her to succeed. I felt her heart ache as though they were my own and couldn't put the book down until I had finished the final page, only to want to pick it up and read it again.

Full of sex, ambition, hatred, betrayal, revenge and intrigue, this book is a must read book for any lover of history or romance.