The Favored Child — Philippa Gregory

THE GREAT HOUSE STARED LIKE A SIGHTLESS GIANT, ITS YELLOW STONE BLACKENED AND CHARRED BY THE FIRE THAT BURNED OUT THE LACEYS AND WRECKED THE FAMILY. THIS WAS MY LEGACY.

Heiress of Wideacre, the most infamous estate in 18th-century Sussex, Julia Lacey had an uncanny way with the land. She could call forth wheat-rich harvests from the ruined earth, and in blinding visions the future came to her. But as the estate rose from its ashes, even these gifts could not prevent a passionate rivalry between her cousin Richard and the man Julia loved, nor quench the venomous treachery born of Richard's greed for Wideacre...

Here is the ravishing story of a beautiful, willful woman who would reach magnificent heights and murderous depths to save the land she was fated to rule. With all the raging, hypnotic intensity of a brilliant storm, THE FAVORED CHILD sweeps us into a world of tragic secrets, lavish intrigues and a love far more powerful than destiny itself.