Philippa Gregory for me is one of those authors that you absolutely cherish. If I could summarise in a neat little package what my ideal book would be, it would one hundred percent have her name all over it. I love historical fiction and that is mainly due to this lady, she really can transport you back to the period shes writing about, each and every one of her characters is remarkable in there own way and Meridon is no exception.Now, I have a great appreciation for this series, the last two bo...

After 2 trainwrecky and emotionally-wringing installments of incest and abuse, this one was very subdued and almost normal. Unfortunately there were a lot of words in this brick of normal, and so many scenes dragged on and on with the painstaking description, particularly of the land. Now, in the past books, I loved the land bits because Beatrice was so invested in it. She practically orgasmed thinking about it. Julia's love for the land was driven by a deep social conscience.Meridon was simply

So. The concluding volume of the Wideacre trilogy. Each book is different, but this is by far the tamest. The story arc covers two years instead of 10 or more & the WTFery is kept to a minimum; for those that care, there's no incest in this book. Sarah's problems are unique in the Wideacre universe. Unlike her mother & grandmother, her initial contact with the land is metaphysical. She has a secret longing for somewhere else -- a place manifested by vivid dreams of past women who look like her,

If you like Jane Austen, but wish it wasn't quite so vanilla - this trilogy is for you!Each book is the story of a daughter of the grand estate, Wideacre. Meridon is our heroine for this book. I can't say much without spoiling, but this one gives us a much different perspective on Wideacre, and it's little village. This is the best book of the trilogy, by far.If you are just looking for an easy period romance, I think you can have that here. My stepmother enjoyed this series, and she has no use

I confess: I usually love Philippa's books. Are they heady? No. Particularly clever? Rarely. But still, love them I do.This one, though, sucked ass. Once I noticed the abundance of metaphors and similes, I was helpless to ignore them and found myself counting appearances (c'mon, does a sentence REALLY require FOUR of them??). Not to mention stomach-churning sex scenes including, "...fervently wishing he would plow my fertile soil..."Sweet Moses.

Why this one the most normal but because of the normality was the most boring??Don’t do wild in the first two of a trilogy then try to tame it in the finale. It really doesn’t work.

Meridon is the reader's payoff for surviving Wideacre and The Favored Child. Meridon, the character, has all the best qualities of her mother and grandmother, plus somehow does not have six legs despite having only one set of great-grandparents. Meridon, the book, has all the best qualities of the two earlier entries in the series and is entirely absent of the unsettling incest from the earlier two. There are a lot of nice callbacks to the better aspects of the earlier books, and I think Gregory...

This was an amazing read! The story builds on the others but it is much better. The struggles of Meridon are true and believable and my heart broke at the death of her sister. It was a true life transforming moment. It was nice to have a character actually be happy at the end of one of the books in the trilogy!

Absolutely skip Gregory's Wideacre books. So bad and tedious- worse than daytime soap operas.

I have to disagree with a lot of people about this series. I absolutly loved it. I will admit that I found the first book, Wideacre, the least enjoyable, but I still rate it a 5. P.G. has become one of my favorite authors, she tells such a vivid story. Her stories may not be everyone's cup of tea, especially this trilogy, but I enjoy them very much. I think that all three women in these books have qualities that can be admirable, yet they all have demons. I think it makes them more real. I like

FINALLY, something good happens for this family...well...sorta. At least she doesn't throw her life away or die in the end and finds some sense of happiness. As always with these families, though, there's plenty of drama and trouble. I went into this book expecting nothing. Still, Phillippa, I love your writing...even when you do the unthinkable and scandalize me to where I want to throw the book across the room. My friends just laugh at me when I get worked up and tell them about what's going o...

Philippa Gregory writes absolutely brilliant historical fiction, but this was not one of her best. Gregory is far more comfortable during the Tudor years, and it shows. It is very obvious, especially to a rabid Georgette Heyer fan like me, that she must have read quite a bit of Heyer before writing this book. Names, characterizations, and other details (like Meridon donning mens clothing all the time) were obviously borrowed from Heyer. On a positive note, when Meridon is poor and working as a b...

I couldn't put this book down. I stayed up until 4am to read it. I had to know what was going to happen and couldn't wait. The last book of the Wideacre story. It's not what I expected, which was good. The first two books were alot the same, so this was a change. Like so many characters from Wideacre I felt so sorry for Meridon and the hardships she went through, but it made her a strong, independent person. She was able to experience so much more in life then the other characters in the first t...

In the style of the two previous novels, very similar plot development and structure. But OMG, cannot believe this does not end with tragedy or death!!!!!!!A big surprise for this series. But, seriously, how stupid can you expect a character that was supposed to a smart-ass gypsy savvy about life in the dumps/streets etc to become in such a short time? This is what I didn't like about this whole series: the main characters were supposed to be smart, or at least strong in some capacities but even...

With equal portions of dialogue and description in the depressing last book of the trilogy, I can say I'm glad to be done with this one.While there is descript kissing, there are only vague references to sex...making this particular novel equally a novel for adults and YA. I liked this one less than book 2 and consider book 1 the better of the three. Wideacre (book 1) was an impeccable novel; The Favoured Child (book 2) was a bit disappointing, and, well, Meridon… Meridon was even more so.I like...

In a nutshell: After her mother sends her away to be bought up by gypsys, Meridon (Sarah Lacey) is living as a vagabond bareback rider in a travelling show. But something in her heart is calling, and she knows that a ‘better’ life is her destiny. Will the lost heir to the Wideacre estate find her way home?The last in the trilogy, and the worst in my opinion. This book felt different to the first two in that the first half was set amongst the backdrop of a travelling circus show, and for me this

Just when I thought I had the ending figured out 3/4's way through, it changed. Was the change good? Yes! I will admit I could see the last two chapters play out in my head with the idea of having seen similar endings in other movies and books. The ending of this third and final book wasn't as earth shattering as reviews had lead me to believe but it was a nice, yet typical ending. All in all it kept my interest which at times found me turning pages quickly to see what would happen next. Happy t...

Whew. I'd read the first and second books in this series, and there were times when I wanted to box Beatrice or Julia around the ears. I wanted to do the same to Meridon, once she came home to Wideacre. Like Beatrice and Julia, she does not realize her mistakes and/or have a grand epiphany until the end of the book, so there were several mistakes that Meridon made with the Haverings that made me want to scream.As with the other books, the historical setting is written well and it was easy to ima...

The last of the trilogy. The middle of the book seemed to me to drag on but it did pick up and ended with more interesting events.

I hate to say this, but I thought the final chapter of the Wideacre trilogy was going to be much better than that. By all means, share your opposing viewpoints, but I honestly thought that it was somewhat of a letdown. About two chapters of the story take place at Wideacre. I found myself missing the beautiful descriptions of the land that Beatrice and Julia so loved and understood so well. I was confused at the conflicting emotions in Meridon. She seemed to have this strong passion for the land...

Considering this book took me almost a month to get into, it wasn't nearly as engaging as the first two installments. Meridon was a bit boring, and the lacing was snail paced slow. I'll probably pick it back up someday, but for now I must bid it adieu.

Gypsies, theirs and trampsA great rollicking tale of the life of gypsy sisters sold off to a circus trainer and their rise and devastating fall... only to lead to unexpected dream come true, fraught with greed and treachery. Great read.

I will also be doing a video review here at my channel: http://www.youtube.com/magicofbooksThe final book in Philippa Gregory's "Wideacre" trilogy, "Meridon," follows that of Julia's daugther, Sarah, who Julia gave to the gypsies at the end of "The Favored Child." Sarah is given the name Meridon, and she has no idea about who she truly is. Meridon has dreams about a place called "Wide"---a place that she feels strongly connected to but doesn't know why. Through a series of events, Meridon and he...

[a neighborhood post office 'library' find]an unnecessarily heavy-handed morality tale, a protagonist i absolutely despised for 100+ pages of it, and a trite ending. but it was amusing in the sense that i needed some bubblegum reading. i wish meridon had not needed to learn the hard way quite so badly so that there could have been more about her horse training instead of the super boring/predictable society nonsense. also the pace was awfully slow. but it was one of PG's first books, and I did a...

I loved this book. This is #3 in the Wideacre Trilogy, a historical series by Philippa Gregory set in England in the 2nd half of the 18th century. This book follows Meridon, a poor gypsy child who lives in a wagon with her sister Dandy, cruel father and indifferent stepmother. They scratch out a meager existence training and trading horses, cheating at cards, pickpocketing and poaching. Meridon is desperate to escape the hard poverty of her life, for security for herself and her sister. A chance...

Meridon winds up being a better heroine than her mother Julia in the trilogy's previous "Favored Child," but it takes a while, and by a while I mean until the last 20% of the book for the plot to gel completely. Had I read this on its own, it's unlikely I would have like the book as much. However, in conjunction with "Wideacre" and "Favored Child," "Meridon" is a decent read and the trilogy, overall, is well worth the time.

Good story, didn't even have to read the previous ones!

An enjoyable denouement to a great trilogy. The Laceys of Wideacre can live peacefully at last and I am satisfied.

This book is the third and final book in Gregory's Wideacre trilogy, written back in the 1980s. The series takes place in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As the second book The Favored Child ended, Julia Lacey's life had been ruined by the history of incest and greed on the Wideacre estate. Determined that the estate should not know another destructive Lacey master or mistress, she gives her newborn daughter to passing gypsies. Before she dies of childbed fever, she writes to the only ma...

*** I won't hide this review because of spoilers, but if you have not read the first two novels in the Wideacre trilogy, then this review will indeed be a massive spoiler to you!!!!***Meridon is a gypsy brat raised with her "twin" sister, Dandy, by her abusive Da and neglectful Step Ma. Meridon wakes up every day in their dirty old wagon thinking "I don't belong here." Her Da has her training horses to sell to the Quality, and teaches her how to cheat at cards.One day both Meridon and Dandy are