Incoherent Scribblings

Stitching and Reading

As this was the third weekend of the month, it was stitch-a-thon weekend!

Because I would really like to get “Above the Clouds” and “Poet’s Heart” finished by the end of the year, I chose to work on “Above the Clouds” this month. As you can see, not only am I nearly done with the clouds now, I also tackled some backstitching. I tell you, a happy dance is so close that I can nearly smell it!

I must confess that I didn’t stitch as much as I could have this weekend though: I spent half of the day today finishing one of the books I started back in August while I was jet-setting around going to job interviews.

I was about half-way finished with The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows fell into my hands. As a result, the story of the first two years of Elizabeth I’s reign and her affair with Sir Robert Dudley had to wait until Lord Voldemort was thoroughly defeated.

All in all, it was a perfect weekend: Drinks with friends, stitching, and reading. What more could a single girl wish for?

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!

Oh No! Another Book Meme!

I’ve been tagged by Ashleigh…

1. Total number of books I’ve owned.

   The only person that could possibly answer this question with a definite number is someone who doesn’t like to read. And that, my friends, ain’t me!

2. Last book I bought.

   The last three books (because I never just buy one book at a time) I “bought” I actually got on trade. They are: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper, and Blood Roots by Richie Tankersly Cusick.

3. The last book I read.

   The last book I finished was Meridon, the third book in the Wideacre Triology by Philippa Gregory. I am currently about half way through The Other Boylen Girl, also by Gregory.

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me.

   The Heaven series by V.C. Andrews. I read these books as a teen and had such sympathy for the heroine, Heaven. I had a crush on Troy, her true love (and unfortunately, her uncle). I have read them over and over since I was a teen and while I recognize now that they aren’t “great” literature, they still have a special place in my heart.

   The Pokey Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey. My grandma and I used to read this Little Golden Book together all the time when I was a little kid. I currently don’t have a copy of it, but someday would love to get one. (Hint, Hint, Mom!!)

   The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When I read this book for the first time, I really discovered “classic literature.” As a direct result of it (and a few others I read in my high school literature class) I decided I should major in English in college.

   Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. My favorite book of all time. I loved the sweeping saga of the Civil War, admired Scarlett, and lusted after Rhett. This book fueled my desire to live in the American South. Of course, once I got there, I found it hot and humid and the southern “gentlemen” were WAY too conservative for my taste. (Not to mention none of them looked or acted like Rhett Butler!)

   Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. This is not my favorite Anne Rice book, but the first one that I read. After I read it, I devoured all her other books and she became, without doubt, my favorite author. I say, without embarrassment, that I see true literature full of symbolism and meaning underneath what others consider pop horror fiction. After all, remember authors like Dickens and Austen were the Anne Rice’s of their day!

5. Which 5 people would you most like to see fill this out in their blog?

   I am not going to tag anybody for this meme. However, if any of my readers fill it out, leave me a comment.

Book Marked!

Here is a fun little book meme sent to me by Jamie.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

One that was being hidden away, appreciated, and read by the people hiding me.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

*blushes* Yes. I read the Heaven series by V.C. Andrews when I was in junior high and I was totally in love with Troy.

The last book you bought is:

I seldom buy one book at a time. So, the last three I bought were; The Other Boleyn Girl, The Favored Child, and Meridon all by Philippa Gregory. The reason I bought all these books by Gregory is because I read Wideacre, the first book in a series, and really liked it. The Favored Child and Meridon are the other books in that series. The Other Boleyn Girl had been highly recommended to me if I liked Wideacre.

The last book you read:

The Running Man by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

What are you currently reading?

*blushes* Nothing. The Other Boleyn Girl is scheduled for next, but I haven’t started it yet.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

Oooh! That is tough! But I would have to say:

1. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell because it is my favorite book of all time.
2. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice because it is my second favorite book of all time.
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll because it is another of my favorite books of all time.
4. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien because it is a BIG book that would keep me occupied for many days.
5. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature so that I could remind myself of all of the literature I didn’t bring.

Who are you going to pass this to (3 persons) and why?

Susie, because she gave me a whole sack full of books before she left Munich and I am still reading through them!

Anna (aka Jinglelady), because according to her blog she has been reading a lot lately.

Dawn, because she is my best friend and needs something to put on her blog!

Book Talk

Please ignore the obscenely late timing of this post! When I finish a good book, I just can’t get it out of my head. So instead of stewing in bed, unable to sleep because I was thinking about my latest novel, I decided to blog about it!

* * * * *

Tonight, I finished Wideacre by Philippa Gregory, the tragic story of the beautiful and cunning Beatrice Lacey and her obsession with her ancestral estate Wideacre.

As the story unfolds, the reader is introduced to a young Beatrice who is constantly at her father’s side as he tends their vast country estate. Not only is Beatrice adored by her father and the villagers alike, she is instinctively connected to the land.

However, her dreams of living out a contented life on her beloved estate are dashed one day when the ugly truth rears its head: Though she is far better equipped to run Wideacre than her brother, because of the social restrictions of her day (18^th century England), she will never inherit it. In fact, she is one day expected to marry and leave her adored home. At that moment, her heart hardens and she begins scheming to claim Wideacre as her own.

During the five years that consist of the bulk of the Wideacre story, Beatrice’s calculating mind knows no limit. Her obsession with her ancestral estate takes her to the heights of passion, the depths of sin, and the brink of madness. And though her obsession with Wideacre finally destroys her, she leaves behind two children to follow in her footsteps.

Truthfully, I haven’t been so enthralled by a novel for quite sometime. I found Beatrice a fascinating character and I couldn’t help but turn the page to find out what depths she would sink to next. I enjoyed the complex plot that, like all good tragedies, was based on deception and a tangled web of lies. And when Beatrice’s secrets are finally revealed things were not tied up too neatly and I was left wanting more… I can’t wait to read the other books in the trilogy!