“Greeley’s storytelling is intricate, masterly, and delightfully imaginative. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal (starred review)
In this gorgeously written and spellbinding historical novel based on Pride and Prejudice, the author of The Clergyman’s Wife combines the knowing eye of Jane Austen with the eroticism and Gothic intrigue of Sarah Waters to reimagine the life of the mysterious Anne … intrigue of Sarah Waters to reimagine the life of the mysterious Anne de Bourgh.
As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh was prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her.
After her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a moment of clarity: what if her life of fragility and illness isn’t truly real? What if she could free herself from the medicine that clouds her sharp mind and leaves her body weak and lethargic? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?
In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, Colonel John Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Yet once she returns to health, new challenges await. Shy and utterly inexperienced, the wealthy heiress must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate a “season” in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman with a keen edge—leading to a powerful reckoning with the domineering mother determined to control Anne’s fortune . . . and her life.
An extraordinary tale of one woman’s liberation, The Heiress reveals both the darkness and light in Austen’s world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart.
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My Review of
The Heiress
By Molly Greeley
Published by WilliamMorrow
On Sale – 1/5/21 Link in Bio
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What a captivating and conversational piece of fiction set as a retelling of one of the characters of Janes Austen’s; Pride & Prejudice. It was quick to devour my attention and I could not tear myself away. The story was heart-wrenching to begin with and a bit shocking to see a young woman raised in such a fortune of riches but unable to truly live her life based on the decision of her mother and doctor. It captures the familiar Austen writing and tone albeit there are some topics you would never dare fine Austen broaching. The surroundings and characters were so well detailed and finely tuned. This is a recommended read regardless if you are a fan of Jane Austen or not; because you will thoroughly enjoy the subversive plot.
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Anne de Borough born to a wealthy couple will become the Heiress to the extraordinary riches and estate upon her father’s death. But she was born sickly & treated her whole childhood and the beginning of her adulthood in a cloud of hallucinations due to the medicine she was given since she was a baby. This medicine always left her in a lethargic & comatose state. How would she ever become independent, leave the grounds of her estate and meet other people; a husband to whom she would birth her own heir?
Under her mother’s watch she was forbidden much of a life as she was told she was too weak and sickly and always like clockwork scheduled to receive her medicine from her nurse. But one day she disobeys and throws the medicine away and visits her cousin in London. The haze clears after a bout of withdrawal from her medicine and suddenly things become clear as to why she has been ill since she was a child and the role her mother played. And while she’s there, she finds romance that is surely against societal norms and she must keep it a secret. Slowly, Anne builds her strength, independence and the courage to go back home to confront her mother and take over the family fortune and estate. She is ready to be who she truly is and to take control of her own life and find the solutions to how she will lead her life based on her choices that go against everything except what she desires.
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley is an excellent historical fiction novel that takes a lesser known and written character from Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice and creates a complex, intricate, and fascinating life that could have only been dreamt about. This book focusses on Anne de Bourgh whom was depicted as a weak, pale, shell of woman that was sickly, and had the constitution of an autumn leaf fluttering in the wind. We all know her as a forgettable secondary character with limited redeeming qualities that was at one time allegedly purported to marry a certain famous cousin of hers, a Mr. Darcy (yep that is right, Elizabeth Bennett’s Darcy). Well obviously that union fell through and Mr. Darcy ends up with his perfect other half, Elizabeth. But what of Anne? Was she as flimsy, empty, and weak as reported, or is there more to the story? Has she been wrongly portrayed all along? This is what Ms. Greeley sets out to depict.
What the reader is then presented is a beautiful, fascinating, and literary genius of a story outlining the horrid aspect of Anne’s upbringing, her tragic losses and misunderstandings, and how after finally getting the opportunity for financial freedom, is able to escape to her cousin’s residence in London (her other cousin Colonel John Fitzwilliam) and is able to overcome many adversities, heal from past and current physical and emotional maladies, present herself into society at large, and find herself and her purpose in life. Here her spiritual and sexual awakening takes place. We see a soul blossoming into its true potential. Are all paths smooth and without any mountains to cross from here out? Certainly not, but Anne is able to find her true self, her hopes, her desires, her flaws, her potential, and a life fulfilled, yet imperfect, that she could only dream about.
The concept of creating such a gorgeous portrait of such a misunderstood and enigmatic character of one of my favorite books of all time is just pure genious. It is beautiful, it is raw, it is real, and it is breathtaking. I devoured every page, every turn, and every revelation. This book is truly unique and beautiful in its own right. Any fan of Jane Austen as well as any fan of any historical fiction will truly love this novel from beginning to end. It certainly does Ms. Austen, and her characters, justice. It is one of the best books that I have read this year so far, and will sure to be one of my favorites.
5/5 stars
Thank you William Morrow/HarperCollins for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.