AD* | 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.
Deeply rooted in its sense of place and time, The Heiress tells the story of a single life, start to finish. From birth and childhood, through to an adulthood she makes her own, Miss Anne de Bourgh is an intriguing young woman.
Much like young Anne herself, the narrative drifts languidly through the pages of the book, dreamily shaping the course of the story. It is unhurried yet intriguing, able to capture the reader's attention without succumbing to an unnecessarily fast pace or action on every page. The book grows and develops alongside its main character; as Anne's world gradually starts to open up, so too does the story unwind and suggest new possibilities. Anne and her story bloom in tandem, exploring their world through a newfound lens.
The Heiress charts the course of a single life from beginning to end. It is sad, poignant and bittersweet, yet also filled with a childlike wonder and a love for even the simplest things in life. This is a study in simplicity, each separate moment preserved and rendered beautifully by the author's delicate prose.
Offering a fresh take on a classic and much-loved novel, The Heiress is a unique, dreamlike historical retelling.
Rating: 3 stars
The Heiress is available to buy now.
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* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
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