I didn't like Wideacre, but for some reason I still put this book, its sequel, on my reading list, and it's spent over ten years on my shelves as I wasn't keen to pick it up. But the past six months, I've been trying to pick up books from my shelves, it was time to pick this one up too. And I didn't dislike it as much as I disliked Wideacre, but I was frustrated with the powerlessness of a woman it depicts, next to a co-heir who's clearly unhinged. There was a lot to like about Julia, but any time anything good happens to her, you just know it's going to be downhill and despair from there onwards. ( )

[This is a review I wrote in 2009}

**Page-turning historical fiction transports you to a turbulent landed estate in 1790s England**

Mysticism, romance, turbulence, rivalry, passion - a gripping historical novel.

The Favoured Child is a sequel to Wideacre, but can equally as well be read on its own. I was over halfway through the book before I realised that I was reading the second book in a series. The story is set in late-eighteenth-century England, on a run-down landed estate on the South Downs, called Wideacre. The estate suffers from a legacy left by the previous Lacey landowner, Beatrice, who perished along with her beloved Wideacre Hall in a suspicious fire a few years previously. The estate is now bankrupt, the village poverty stricken, resentments are felt throughout the estate and this is the inheritance of the next two Lacey heirs, cousins Julia and Richard. The cousins have been growing up together under the protection of Julia's mother and family, in the shadow of the blackened ruins of the Hall, and with little money and just each other for company - friends, rivals and secretly betrothed since childhood, their relationship is a tempestuous one. Although they are to inherit jointly, there is an old saying in the village that only one can be the favoured child, only one of them can have the mystical relationship with the land traditionally passed down to each generation, a connection with the land that can bring fertility and prosperity back to the Wideacre estate; in truth only one of them can be the true Lacey heir.

I picked up this novel on a whim and am so glad I did. I used to read quite a lot of historical fiction and then gave them up when I found the plots were becoming quite thin and reedy, or too similar to each other but I shall definitely be reading some more Philippa Gregory. There is nothing predictable about The Favoured Child. The historical background is superb (without being overly detailed) - the history does not intrude on the novel, it just adds to its richness and sense of drama. I'm looking forward to reading the final book of the trilogy, Meridon. ( )

I am a huge fan of Philipa Gregory and this book was a terrific read in keeping with her style and the way she depicts the 18th century way of life. A sequel to Wideacre, I loved the book even though I had not read the first one. Highly recommended for those who enjoy historical novel with a contemporary narrative tone. ( )

I'm glad to be done with this. I stayed with it through all three books of this trilogy, hoping for a redeeming feature of some kind, but at no point does anything good happen to any character. A lot of nasty behaviors make me want to read ANYTHING else just to take the taste of this story out of my mind. ( )

With the family in debt, the estate is in complete disarray, it is up to one girl to be the savior of the land ( )