The Heiress
Fiction
William Morrow
January 5, 2021
Hardcover
368
Free from publisher
As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh’s doctor 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.
My review:
And here we have yet another in this week's installment of books based on classic books (see Tuesday's review of The Wife Upstairs). This time the book is about Anne de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice (ahem.....yet another classic I have not read). I really enjoyed this one, I read another of this author's work last year, and love her writing style. What I love about it I can't really pinpoint, but it just seems to flow seamlessly from beginning to end. The setting is vivid, the time period well followed and researched, and the well formed characters, lead to a satisfying reading experience. I was shocked to read about the overuse of laudanum for all kinds of ailments during this time, including the likely case of colic in young Anne. Her dependence on this drug was heartbreaking, and you spent the entire first half of the novel willing her to get out from under her mother's control. Once that has been semi-achieved, it was great rooting for Anne to become her own person and buck the system of where ladies of that time were expected to be (taking care of the house and children, while your husband tends to YOUR land and business). There was an LGBT aspect in this that was a sweet story. I'm not sure it was necessary for the novel to work, but it was tastefully worked in, and I really liked how the two characters helped each other to grow.
A definite nod to feminism of that era, this was a well written story with vivid characters and setting. Also check out the author's book (mentioned above) The Clergyman's Wife.
It seems that providing a new take on a classic is the popular thing to do right now. I just saw a prequel to The Great Gatsby. I'm not sure how I feel about that though. I'm happy you enjoyed this one!
It reminds me of (pre-pandemic days) when they were making so many movies from books. Time to get some new infusion of talent to write something original? Or maybe a happy medium?