Incoherent Scribblings

Book Review: The Favored Child

It’s been a while since I did a book review, so this week I am going to give you a glimpse into what I have been reading over the past few months.

First up is The Favored Child, the second book in the Wideacre Trilogy by Philippa Gregory. (Read my review of Wideacre, the first book in the trilogy.)

Beatrice Lacey’s daughter, Julia, is the main character in this book. She is “the favored child” and has the same attachment to the land as Beatrice did and is often haunted by her “gift of sight.” Together with her supposed cousin, Richard, Julia is to inherit Wideacre, their ancestral estate.

Richard is a mean, cold, and possessive little boy who turns into a psychotic man. He enjoys no favor from the villagers and resents the fact that Julia is admired by the villagers, understands the land, and is looked upon as “the favored child.”

However, Julia is quite attached to Richard and as a girl promises to marry him. Their guardians do not want Julia and Richard to marry, though they will not say why, and when Julia asks to marry a young man she met during her Season in Bath, her guardians are overjoyed.

Richard is so jealous that he sabotages Julia’s engagement by raping her. She becomes pregnant with his child and marries Richard in secret. Because married women could not own property in that day and age, once she marries Richard, she no longer has any control over Wideacre and is demoted to just another piece of Richard’s property.

The climax of the book comes when it is revealed that Richard is not Julia’s cousin, but her brother, and that both were born of an incestuous union between Beatrice and her brother Harry. Julia fears her unborn child will be a monster and swears to kill it once it is born. On the night Julia gives birth, Richard is killed by a vengeful villager and instead of drowning her newborn daughter as she had vowed, Julia gives the baby to a band of traveling gypsies.

Unfortunately, Julia becomes deathly ill after she gives birth. But before she dies though, Julia writes a letter to her ex-fiancé asking him to search for her daughter and be her guardian; for once she is found she will be the sole heir to Wideacre.

This book is a good sequel to Wideacre. I found it to be just as well written and engaging as its predecessor. When I read Wideacre, I was completely fascinated by the character of Beatrice. I wouldn’t say I liked her in a traditional sense, but I really enjoyed her cold, calculating mind and outrageous behavior.

I was also quite captivated by Julia in The Favored Child, even though I didn’t really like her either. She was wishy-washy and subservient, a complete foil to Beatrice. Though women were taught to be subservient in that day and age, I couldn’t help but get frustrated at the way Julia let other people (especially Richard) control her life.

When Julia was in Bath and free of Richard, she seemed to discover her strength and I thought that would be a turning point for her. Unfortunately, once she returned to Wideacre Richard tightened his grip on her again and her spirit was smothered. It wasn’t until the end that she really exercised her will, but by then it was too late for her.

In conclusion, I would say that though I may have been disappointed by Julia’s character, I was definitely not disappointed in the book… just a few days later I started the third book in the series, Meridon. It was a great finale to the trilogy and tomorrow you can read my review of it!