The Favored Child

The Favored Child – Philippa Gregory

The Favored Child is the second novel in Philippa Gregory’s Wideacre trilogy, a dark and passionate saga set on a grand country estate in eighteenth-century England.

The Wideacre estate has been left to two children: Julia Lacey and her cousin Richard. Raised together and believing themselves equal heirs, they grow up sharing a deep bond and a love for the land. Yet the estate carries a troubled legacy from the generation before, and hidden secrets about their parentage threaten to shape their futures in ways neither of them can foresee.

As Julia grows into a young woman, she feels an ever deeper bond with the land and with the people who work it. Richard, charming and ambitious, is determined to become the master of Wideacre. Their relationship becomes increasingly complex and dangerous, while the villagers who depend on the estate face hardship, rebellion and the pressures of a changing economy.

Rich in historical detail and atmosphere, the novel explores power, inheritance, class, love and the bonds that tie people to a place.

Philippa Gregory, the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl, brings her trademark storytelling skill and emotional intensity to this gripping family drama. The Favored Child is ideal for readers who enjoy historical fiction, gothic family sagas and stories of dangerous passions, and can be followed by the trilogy’s final volume, Meridon.