Reviewed by Rinn on
On one hand I found myself despising Beatrice for everything she did, and she made me so angry with her narcissism - constantly referring to herself as beautiful and talking about her 'lovely body'. But as the book progressed, I started to almost feel sorry for her. The way she felt she had to do all these horrible acts to keep hold of Wideacre for herself, but they only contributed to her downfall. The way she no longer felt any love for the land she loved when she was younger and worked so hard for, the way she was ignored and hated by people who once loved her. I was both frustrated and quite enthralled by the book so I kept reading it, although from about the middle it was obvious how it would conclude. I think she is one of the few protagonists that I have really truly despised, but like I said my emotions became conflicted as the horrific acts lessened and she lost control. Her treatment of John was especially cruel and I actually found that part quite hard to read.
I'd recommend it if you're a fan of historical fiction that's a bit... saucier than usual, let's say. There's some squeamish parts that I don't really want to go into, and I think the main thing that kept me reading was that Beatrice's character was just so horrible, I wanted to see how it all ended.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 22 February, 2012: Finished reading
- 22 February, 2012: Reviewed