Beatrice Lacey, as strong-minded as she is beautiful, refuses to conform to the social customs of her time. Destined to lose her family name and beloved Wideacre estate once she is wed, Beatrice will use any means necessary to protect her ancestral heritage. 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, 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.

***First in the trilogy***

Would like to turn this book into a book ray. I somehow ended up buying two copies of this book, so I'd like to turn this one into a bookray, so it can travel around while I'm at home, unable to travel.

To help ensure that things run smoothly (or that is the plan anyhow), I've put together a few rough guidelines for this one. I know that some people take longer to read a book (busy, got a bunch of books to read before, work, etc)...

1. Please try to have this book read within 3 weeks. I know this isn't always possible, but if you make an effort to try that is all I can ask.

2. Please journal when you receive the book.

3. When about halfway through, please contact the next person on the list for their mailing address.

4. Please journal again when you've read the book and it is on its way.

5. Have fun! Reading is supposed to be fun!

6. To the last person in the ray: Please keep this book moving... RABCK it, give it to a friend, etc... just please keep it moving once you're done reading it. Thanks!


Sending order:
sweetybeans-OR
stacyinthecity-NY (US)
sdkelley-MO
hellomelissa-NC
Shawnna-TN (Int if needed)
AceofHearts-Canada (Inter)
GateGypsy-Canada (Inter)
longfordmaine-UK
Cross-patch-UK (UK)
Twynnie-UK
sudokugirl-Bosnia and Herzegovina (Inter)<--- book is here


If interested, please PM with your location and shipping preferences. I'll PM back. If you don't hear from me after a few days, then I didn't get your PM. My computer isn't set up yet due to lack of space in my current location, so I have to check my email at work. If you don't hear from me right away, please be patient. Thanks!

Mailed to sweetybeans to start this ray off!

received the book today!!! wooo hooo. I am finishing The Mermaid Chair and will get to in about 1-2 days.

i was surprised by the difficulty i had in finishing this book. it wasn't that i didn't like it, it was a different style of writing than i am used to from phillipa gregory... some of the parts lagged big time and seemed to repeat in too much detail. don't get me wrong i still liked the book a lot and am interested in the whole trilogy. beatrice is a complex and interesting character with many issues....


sent to stacey in the city on 9/1/06 ;)

This arrived a little while ago. Things have been busy lately and I haven't had a change to log that I received it! So sorry! Will begin reading it tonight and should have it finished soon!

I loved this book. The setting was so perfect and perfectly described. I felt like I knew Wildacre as well as Beatrice. I loved the way it was written. Beatrice, I was torn on. She was written so well, that even after doing hateful things, I believed in her and wanted her to succeed. The last couple chapters flew by, as I was very interested to see what would happen with Wildacre. Would Wildacre triumph? Would Beatrice? Would they both? A very good book. I look forward to reading the sequels!

The next person in the ring has been contacted.

whew! this book was an entertaining page turner from beginning to end. about as soap-operatic as a novel can get! as much as i loved the descriptive scenery, i couldn't stand the characters. it's always harder to love a book when you don't like the characters, but i read it through to the sad and sordid end. i'll send it along to the next in line...

Arrived in the mail today! I've received 2 bookring books per day this week, and (don't laugh) even though it's only Tuesday, that's 4 already! Plus the one that I started last Friday. I'll get to this as quickly as possible, though. I don't like holding these up more than necessary.

I read a ways into this book, but came to a point where I decided I wasn't interested in finding out how the rest of it went. Gregory is a fine writer, and I enjoy her books, but I just couldn't be in the right headspace to enjoy this, so it's finally being passed on to longfordmaine. It was passed into the capable hands of Canada Post on Sept 22 (sent surface, sorry, but air would have been $30!) and will be visiting the next ringmember... soon, I hope. Thank you for sharing this, and thank you for your patience with me!

Well surface mail from Canada takes some time, but it's here safe and sound at last.

Might be a week or two before I can start on this one.

Wow! What a great read!

Very different from the other Philipa Gregory books I have read but absolute Quality writing!!!

If this was made into a film or a TV mini-series I would watch it! In fact, while I was reading it (bit by bit on the tube each day), I was casting the characters in my head.

Sorry for the delay - this book is in the post tomorrow morning (11th December).

It has arrived. I've been waiting because I wouldn't read the second one without reading this one first. I am really looking forward to it. Thank you, thegoaliegirl and longfordmaine and a Merry Christmas to everyone.

Quite a marathon! It is interesting having such an immoral heroine as Beatrice. I waxed and waned on her, torn between despising her heartlessness but supporting her in solving the cruelty of her times - feminist issues of course. Philippa Gregory is wonderful at catching the historic family saga. Certainly worth reading, and I'll give the other two in the series a try.

Thank you, thegoaliegirl, for sharing your copy with us.

I am waiting to hear from Twynnie before I send it on.

This has arrived safely. I'm looking forward to reading it, but I have another ring to read first. It shouldn't take me too long though. Thanks to everyone thegoaliegirl for sharing this book, and to Cross-patch for passing it on to me...

I found the writing of this compelling, but I think it could have got away with being a bit shorter! I found I wanted to know how each piece of storyline was resolved but there were always several extraneous pages before I got to that point. Beatrice is an interesting character - she is sympathetic at the beginning but soon turns into someone you love to hate.

---SPOILERS----

There are so many opportunities along the way where she could have chosen to end things happily, but she's too obsessed with the land to do so. It got to the point where it was obvious the only resolution could be for her to come to a sticky end, and I was just waiting to find out how it would come about. I would have liked to think the children would live happily ever after, but I just read the synopsis for 'The Favored Child' on amazon, so I know that isn't going to happen... oh well!

I have PMed the next reader and I'll get this sent off as soon as I get a reply - sorry I have had it a little over the 3 weeks

The book arrived safely this morning. Thanks for the speedy shipping, Twynnie.

This is a very cool book, I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Thank you for sharing, thegoaliegirl.

Passed on to my sister.

Got the book. Looking forward to reading it :)

I enjoyed this book very much. It has all the necessary ingredients: action, love, hate, passion and mystery and is wonderfully written. Highly recommended.