The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh

by Molly Greeley

"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 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 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.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical, LGBT, Retellings, Queer

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 2021

About the author

Though Molly Greeley earned a degree in English from Michigan State University, she spent a number of years working in cafes, law offices, and for insurance newspapers before finding the courage to write her first novel. Her work has been called "Intricate, masterly, and delightfully imaginative" (Library Journal), "Exquisite" (Austenesque Reviews), and "Nuanced" with a "hint of D.H. Lawrence" (BBC Culture). Her books have been Indie Next picks and have received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

Molly lives in northern Michigan with her husband and three children, and can often be found with her laptop at local coffee shops.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book to start 2021 off with. I’m a big Austen fan so when I heard about this book I was really excited to read it. This is a bit of a spin-off but also a companion book to Pride and Prejudice. While I’m not the biggest historic fiction reader, I love this gothic style and I thought this book fit well into Austen’s world. This book is by HarperCollins, so it’s nice to start the year reading a mainstream book that had a sapphic romance. I love seeing that and I hope I will see a lot more of it in 2021.

This book was an interesting mix of some darkness but also hope. This time period was rough on women so while it’s a little bit hard to read at times, it’s also so rewarding to read about women being strong and taking their agency back. This book also has very interesting family dynamics including a mother who is so sure she is right, that she is so horribly wrong. You can’t help but feel awful for the main character, especially when she is trapped in a drugged state, but this is a story of the journey of her growth and you want to follow Anne on that journey.

This is a slower paced book. The beginning especially feels slow as Anne narrates in her own drugged out state. Anne’s drugged induced physical and mental slowness, ends up decelerating the pace of the book for us readers too. It’s interesting to be in a first person story like that and I was surprised that the pace didn’t bother me much. It does pick up as the book goes on, and those change helps you feel, as an observer, that you truly understand the changes that Anne is going through. I think it was pretty cleverly written in this way. This is a book to be patient with, but I found it to be rewarding.

As I mentioned already, there is a WLW romance. Anne is a very sheltered woman so finding out that she was a lesbian could have been this huge deal for her. I liked that Greeley played this fact down. Anne loved who she loved, and wanted to love who she loved. It was nice to see Anne just be Anne and I liked the sweet romance in the story. This is a relationship of friends to lovers and both the friendship, and later when you could tell it was turning into something more, were enjoyable and sweet to read about.

This is a book I would absolutely recommend to Pride and Prejudice fans. I thought this was a well done companion piece and I’m hopeful Austen fans will agree. It is a slower book that is more about the little things, but I was quite taken with it and enjoyed it from start to finish.

An ARC was given to me for a honest review.

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne de Bourgh is the heiress in question, the daughter of Sir Lewis and Lady Catherine, she will inherit Rosings Park, Kent one of the finest estates in the south of England. She is cousin to Fitzwilliam Darcy and Anne’s indomitable and controlling mother has decreed they will marry! Anne has been hooked in laudanum since she a baby as she was ‘troublesome’. Anne tells her own story.

This is an homage to Jane Austen via a minor Pride and Prejudice character and yes, it reads like an Austen in that it captures the spirit of the great author in dialogue, in language, in manners as it depicts etiquette, society and social mores. There the similarities end and I’m glad that it does as this is a work of originality not a duplicate. Austen most certainly wouldn’t have written about some of the topics included here such as the effects of coming off laudanum (not pretty) and ‘female issues’ (!) which wouldn’t have even been alluded to, never mind described! This is a love story but not the kind of love of Austen’s novels envisage and this is what makes it a refreshingly modern take. The characters are excellent though not all likeable. Lady Catherine is a bully and what she does to Anne is totally inexcusable. As Anne grows into her body and fills the spaces with spirit I like her more and more. Equally likeable is Eliza Amherst and John Darcy, Anne’s cousin who is a kind and understanding man. Eliza introduces Anne to the enlightening world of books and here we see the influence of Mary Wollstonecraft on Anne’s growing independence and strength of mind. Some of the descriptions of Anne’s addiction are fantastic in their hallucinatory effects but even under the dulling impact of the drug you detect mutiny. There are some superb analogies of Anne’s before and after laudanum state which have leanings towards animism and are very clever, vivid and colourful.

Overall, this is an excellent book to lose yourself in. It’s well written with a good plot line and some moments of tension especially between Anne and Lady Catherine, you almost see those flying sparks. I love the emergence of Anne from the chrysalis of laudanum to the spirited independent butterfly who flits where she wills and does a lot of good in the process. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

[Alexis Hall]

I have a complicated relationship (as I have a complicated relationship with most things) with what you might call the Austen industry. The thing is, I adore Austen and there’s been some amazing television and film adaptations of her work, as well as some truly remarkable pieces of … I’m not sure what you call a text inspired by and drawing upon an original work that would not exist without the original work except … fanfic? And I don’t mean that in a demeaning way. Shakespeare wrote fanfic. So, yeah, there’s a tonne of Austen-derived-work I really love—Clueless springs to mind, Lost in Austen is cute as hell, Sonali Dev’s Austen-inspired series is really working for me, and Jenny Holiday has a lovely m/m Persuasion re-telling. But there’s also … there’s also a bunch of stuff that’s clearly absolute bobbins. Sometimes genuinely sincere bobbins. And sometimes blatant cash-in bobbins. And I had no idea where on this spectrum The Heiress was going to fall.

Good news: I liked it a lot.

I think the author makes a lot of very sensible choices throughout: there’s the fact she chose a super minor character (Anne de Bough) to write about, there’s the fact the novel is told in first person from Anne’s perspective she’s not required to do a bargain basement impression of Jane Austen (only Austen can write like Austen), and “canon” characters are using sparingly and respectfully. We see only glimpses of Darcy and Elizabeth, for example (and there’s a clever little scene where a very young Darcy is mean about Anne to one of his cousins, much as he will later be mean about Elizabeth with Bingley) although Colonel Fitzwilliam—another minor character it’s safe to play around with—is a lot more present. Lady Catherine, as would be inevitable, looms large over the novel but given she’s both micro-managing and hands-off on the parenting front she appears directly on page only for significant moments. Given she’s kind of a caricature of an awful person in the original book she’s not exactly difficult to imitate (she has a couple of Lady Catherine-esque speeches about how things should be managed, sends people to play pianos in out-of-the-way places, and calls Anne an ungrateful girl about three times towards the end of the book—all of which strike me as very on brand for Lady C) but the book does allow her some degree of nuance, especially towards the conclusion of the novel, and in a way that does not seem out-of-step with her original depiction. Which is to say, she’s a staunch traditionalist who sincerely wants the best for the people she cares about but can’t conceive of a world where what is what best for someone else might be different to what she believes it to be.

So. Yes. Genuinely interesting and unique take on the material, which never—to my mind—felt forced or ran contrary to the original book. The central idea in The Heiress is that Anne comes across weak, sickly and lethargic because she’s off her head on crack. It was kind of a thing at time (so I understand, I’m not a historian) to prescribe laudanum for overly loud or troublesome infants, which is what happens to Anne. Which means by the time Elizabeth meets in her P&P she’s already a life-long addict, with nobody any the wiser that what is actually wrong with Anne is not some nebulous weakness or illness but opium. I will say, the first half the book moves … very slowly. Because Anne is stoned to high heaven and her life is incredibly restrictive on account of her “illness.” But, thanks to the intervention of her governess, Anne is able to figure out what the issue is, defy her mother and run away to London to stay with Colonel Fitzwilliam (and the rich wife he was obliged to marry) in order to kick her opium habit and take back her life and her future.

And for all the first half is slow and passes in a druggy haze, I don’t believe the second would have been quite so satisfying without it. It’s a halting journey for Anne – even without an opium dependency, her education is lacking, and her experiences of the world negligible – but I was sincerely rooting for her. Especially when hints that had been present throughout the book as a whole coalesced into Anne falling in love with another woman – an original character, though a well-realised one. For me, this worked beautifully well, and while there are sources of conflict in the relationship, they were mostly external in nature (related the place of women in society) rather than revolving around queer identity. This is a book of mostly quiet triumphs and quiet choices around women’s agency and selfhood, of which Anne’s queerness is presented as a natural and fully integrated part, and never a source of drama. I was briefly concerned the book was going to take us down the path of Sad, Thwarted Lesbians but no. Phew.

I also came to really appreciate the writing: it has a dreaminess to it that initially reflects Anne’s drugged up torpor, but over time becomes a true expression of who she is and how she sees the world. Honestly, she’s kind of an odd duck is Anne de Bough and I only loved her the more for it. The other thing that struck me throughout the book was … I guess … it’s female-gazeyness? This is hard to talk about without straying way, way out of my lane but the way she responds to the physicality of other women is both sensual and feels distinctly … um … gay af?

For example these are her thoughts about Elizabeth:

How would it be, I wondered, to move through the world like Miss Bennet, with such energy and sureness? There was strength in Miss Bennet’s form, and health in the brightness of her cheeks. Her muslin gown showed the full outline of her legs as she moved, and they looked so very sturdy. I imagined running my palms down their length, feeling the soft brush of fine hair and the solidity of muscle. Cupping the backs of her calves. They would feel, I thought, very different to my own.

Or Miss Amherst, the woman she ultimately falls in love with:

Miss Amherst, shorter and fuller, with curving shoulders and blunt, irregular features—small eyes, round nose, soft, receding chin. Both had hair of an unfortunate shade of orange, though Miss Julia wore it better, her skin pale and smooth enough that the contrast was dramatic. Miss Amherst’s skin was covered in freckles so scattered and numerous they looked like droplets of paint. She was elegance and irreverence at once, one foot, in its neat green slipper, swinging lightly as she sat. I watched it move, the better to keep my eyes from wandering over all the oddly appealing, clashing parts of her.

Anyway. Was not expecting much from this book – and came away thoroughly impressed. I would have been happy enough with watching Anne de Bough reclaim her life. But the lovely queer story was an unforeseen bonus.

[Jennifer nyc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve lowered this to a 3.4. I solidly liked it, but the stakes just weren’t high enough. I felt that once the main character was out from under the control of her oppressive mother, it almost took on the feel of a 1980s film montage. The characters were likable, the sentences clear and upbeat, the time period well-captured, and I appreciated the dilemma of an heiress wanting to share her life with a woman despite societal expectations. But her struggles felt minimal, her desires easily won. It might have been just what I needed, but the pleasure felt more of the moment, much like a good, but not outstanding meal. No need to read Pride and Prejudice before hand, this novel stands on its own.

[Susan (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne De Bourgh has been overlooked by society for all her young existence. Sequestered at her family’s country estate never to leave, she’s been labeled too sickly to partake in her own life. Her dominant mother oversees her delicate nature and dictates all aspects of her daily routine.

But she’s not sick, she’s been drugged.

As a crying infant, she was prescribed Laudanum, a powerful opiate to calm her. The medicine continued into adulthood maintaining her haze and non-responsiveness.

However, she’s an heiress to a vast fortune and Rosings Park. She’s the niece of an earl and the daughter of formidable Lady Catherine. She was meant to marry her cousin Mr. Darcy and the estate managed by him, but we know that he married someone else.

This book is from Anne’s point of view and her late blooming awareness. It presents as quiet, but the richness of the story lies in the writer’s descriptions. Literary without pretension, and artistic without excess. It has a greatly different feel than Pride and Prejudice.

A notable quote regarding the recurring theme of Anne’s progressive awakening:

“When at last the torrent passed, I opened my eyes. The woods were water-blurred; I had only soft impressions of trees and undergrowth, made softer still by the gathering dark. I was, I thought, the way a newborn babe must experience the world, and almost, I smiled. I was made fresh again.”

The writing was beautiful and the story told with so much finesse that I was unexpectedly in search of a few tissues while reading. I’m happy that I purchased a hardback copy since I’ll definitely want to read it again.

[Heidi (can’t retire soon enough) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by the pitiful, sickly daughter of the monstrous Lady Catherine De Burgh, the author creates a beautiful narrative for Anne.

Lush language and a slow pace are fitting for the young girl who is but an afterthought in Pride and Prejudice.

Here, what came before and after the one scene she is in during my favorite Austen novel, is embellished beautifully.

Greeley’s writing, even when it was dark and hopeless, was beautiful. Pastoral. Melancholy. Hopeful. Transcendent as Anne reclaims her own life.

While I did pause at the direction Anne’s life took, it was lovely to experience all of it with Anne. The last chapter was especially affecting— simply a reminder that life can be beautiful. We are who loved us and who we come to love.

(reviewed 4/3/23)

[Katie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Heiress features the character, Anne de Bourgh, who appeared in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It's been years since I read that book so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to follow along when reading this one. Thankfully, The Heiress can easily be read as a standalone novel although I do think the reading experience will be enhanced a bit if you know the basics of the Pride and Prejudice plot ahead of time.

When Anne was a baby, her doctor prescribed her laudanum. She continued taking the drug as she grew up because she was so sickly and frail. It's understood that when she is of age, Anne will marry her cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy. (yeah, it's the 1800s, we have to roll with the whole marrying cousin thing) And of course if you read P&P, you know who Darcy ends up with instead of Anne. After Anne's father dies, she questions if the medicine she has taken for years is truly helping or hurting her. Is she meant to be confined for the rest of her life or is there a better life out there if she's brave enough for making a drastic change?

I like how addiction was a part of the storyline and as a reader you feel so frustrated for Anne and want to strangle the adults who thought giving a child opium every day was a good idea. Sounds crazy but it's really not that far fetched that most people would not have a good grasp on drug addiction back in the early 1800s. The time period of the addiction as well as a child trusting the adults to take care of her made it a unique and interesting plot.

One of the other neat aspects of the plot is something that is set forth pretty late in the book. To me that falls into spoiler territory so I'm not going to get into any details about it in this review. It's just another thing that made this a good read.

I think most readers will find this book to be a satisfying read regardless of whether or not you are a diehard Jane Austen fan.

Thank you to William Morrow for providing me with an advance copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike every other Jane Austen spinoff I've attempted, The Heiress neither explores the same themes nor attempts to mimic the writing of the inimitable Austen. It is so, so much the better for it. Molly Greeley chooses a character from Pride and Prejudice with exactly zero spoken lines - the sickly Anne de Bourgh, daughter of Lady Catherine - and uses her to tell a story of addiction, sexuality, and ultimately self-realization.

Anne, in Greeley's version of things, is sickly not through constitution but through the daily drops of laudanum (opium in alcohol) she has received since she was an exceptionally fussy baby. At age 29, she has been as a sleepwalker in her own life, observing the world from a foggy distance at best, hallucinating or dreaming while deep under the influence. Much of the first half of the book reads like an extended period of hypnagogia, that transitional, hallucinatory state between sleep and wakefulness:

At night, the house breathed, and it was this that made me realize I had been hearing and feeling Rosings Park for most of my life. I remembered, when I was a child, imagining that the walls of the house were moving in and out around me, just as my own rib cage expanded and subsided with each of my breaths. It had, I knew now, been breathing the whole time; I simply had not recognized its respiration for what it was.

The death of her father and a long-lost letter from a special governess puncture Anne's sleepy passivity. Acting on her first impulse ever, she heads to London ostensibly to visit her cousin but really to shake off the many forces that have power over her - the laudanum, her mother, her own physical weakness, and the narrow options her society provides to women.

Neither satire nor romance, this is a female coming-of-age in which the monsters to be slain are all very human. I wasn't expecting to like Anne as a character, but I did. I appreciated her attention to the natural world even while in a drug-induced stupor, the unflinching honesty with which she sees herself and her choices, and the gradual unfurling of her personality once freed from opium. Unlike most Austen heroines, Anne has the privilege of being independently wealthy, and it's a joy to see her take full advantage of that to craft a life for herself. I think even Elizabeth Bennet might see something to envy in that.

Greeley writes unobtrusively but well in her chosen time period. Usually while reading an Austen-inspired book, I'm flinching the whole time at the stilted artifice of the prose. The Heiress doesn't sound like Austen, but it also doesn't sound jarringly anachronistic. The amount of research that went into this book is clear, although it delves deeply into subjects Austen would have considered verboten: drug withdrawal, constipation (apparently a side effect of opium), menstruation, desire between women. Nothing's graphic, but nothing's elided either.

Would Jane Austen be spinning in her grave? Well, probably. (At least at the part where Anne fantasizes about touching Elizabeth Bennet's well-muscled calves. Just to say - she's not half of the F/F romance in here!) But I think it's a rather grand story on its own merits with just enough overlapping characters to attract eager Austenphiles who are open to a very different view of this period. I especially liked the ending, a graceful if slightly melancholy full circle sweep of a life well-lived.

Disclaimer: I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway (the first I've ever won), but I don't think it affected my judgment.

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice fans you will devour this amazing story of the illusive Anne, the heiress of Rosings Park Kent, daughter of Sir Lewis and Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and cousin to Fitzwilliam Darcy whom she had been promised to marry since childhood. We all know what happened to that story, as Darcy ends up marrying Lizzy Bennet as he finds his HEA. This story is the life of Anne from inception to her demise, the laudanum trance that has been forced upon her as an infant to her young adult life, and her awakening as she spends a season in London and lives her life to the fullest without restraints.

The writing was exquisite and carries the same tone as Austen would write it. I am so glad to see how an obscure character got her own story in this original historical fiction I loved. Overall the story was immersive, addictive and just so amazing - historical fiction fans and Austenites will find this story a true joy. I sure did and loved it!

[Natalie Jenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly Greeley's second novel The Heiress shows her to be one of the best young writers working today--the sheer beauty of her prose has few rivals. In reimagining the character of Anne de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice, Greeley takes us inside a troubled, resilient and poetic mind and gives us a heroine to both sympathize with and root for. With stunningly lyrical writing, Greely elevates Austen-inspired fiction--and psychological fiction in general--onto a whole new plane.

[MZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of “Pride and Prejudice” and I have read it many times, so you can imagine my delight upon hearing about this spinoff. The life story of Anne De Bourgh. In “Pride and Prejudice” Anne De Bourgh only plays a minor role, she’s portrayed as a sickly, fragile wallflower and honestly, she’s not the most interesting person……I thought! This book gives an interesting twist to her persona, describing how she was drugged on laudanum for a large part of her life. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Ell Potter with a lovely English accent that fits this book excellently.

This book describes Anne’s life from birth to death. As a baby she cried a lot and was described laudanum, her medicine, to improve her sleep. Medical ignorance and a dominant mother (Lady Catherine De Bourgh), who is so certain that Anne needs her medicine, caused a doped-up state long into adulthood.

The story is told in the first person from the POV of Anne and describes her often hazy state of mind. Not knowing any better and constantly being reminded by her mother that she truly is sickly, she believes this herself. Not only her physical health suffers, but also her mental health and ability, as her teaching is being held back as well. Until her governess instills doubts in her. When finally the time comes that she takes matters into her own hands and kicks her drug addiction, she finds that she has so much to learn about society and about herself.

As may be expected for this time period, and the fact that Anne is drugged up, it was a bit dark at times and the pace is rather slow, but to me this suits a book linking to this time period. I enjoyed listening to her sometimes almost poetic thoughts and seeing how she takes notice of the small things in life. The moment she starts living was also a wonder to me, seeing her grow, take responsibility, standing up for herself, and discovering her romantic feelings towards women (one in particular). There is an f/f romance in here, which is part of her life story but not the focus of the book. It’s an important part though, as it shows her struggle to fit in with society (which was not forgiving for women) and it defines the rest of her life.
And the moment where Anne finally stands up to Lady Catherine De Bourgh….oh boy, it felt good :-)

In short, an excellent spinoff of a classic tale. If you like “Pride and Prejudice” or books from this time period and enjoy a sapphic twist, I definitely recommend this book!

[DeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Pride and Prejudice stars

For fans of “Pride and Prejudice” this one will be a big hit! Featuring a side character from that story, this book puts you perfectly in the setting with characters that you root for!

Anne de Bourgh starts life as a very fussy baby and the local doctor prescribes laudanum to help. As you might imagine, it is very easy to get addicted to opium and it seems shocking today that this was frequently given for all sorts of ailments! Anne doesn’t thrive because of this addiction and seems fated to always be a sickly person. Withdrawal and those symptoms weren’t completely understood either.

Fate finally intervenes though, and it was amazing to see Anne emerge and take charge of her life, escaping to her cousin’s house. Her mother seemed to be a terribly controlling woman and I never quite warmed to her. I don’t understand British inheritance rules, but luckily Anne was able to inherit her family estate and that gave her freedom to become her own person rather than be forced to marry.

This newly imagined version of the P&P story was such a fun read with a few sightings of the Darcys and other characters. This was my first read from this author but I see that she has another one that is a P&P retelling.

Thank you to Book Club Girl/William Morrow/Custom House for the complimentary copy to read and review.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fussy baby, Anne de Burghs 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 for her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy.It was understood that Anne and Darcy would mary and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love or want Anne.

This bookis based on Jane Austens character Jane de Burgh, dauther of the infamous Lady Catherine. The novel follows Anne theoughout her life. Anne had been prescribed laudanum as an infant to stop her cryin and she quockly becomes addicted to it. But when Anne was twenty eight, she escapes to her cousins house and overcomes her addiction. A minor character from the original book eventually takes charge of her own destiny. This is an enjoyable read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Molly Greeley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Abigail Bok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a lot of books have moved me to tears since I was a child and blubbering over Old Yeller and How Green Was My Valley. This one did, and it’s hard to think of higher praise.

In The Heiress, Molly Greeley takes up one of Jane Austen’s most opaque characters, Anne de Bourgh, and step by relentless step opens her up to both the reader and herself. The reason Greeley offers for Anne’s opacity is so plausible as to feel inevitable, even though it is completely unsupported by Austen’s text. According to this account, Anne was a fretful infant prescribed laudanum to keep her calm by an ignorant or venial country doctor. Once started on a daily regimen of this opiate there is no stopping it, and she grows up an addict.

The descriptions of her poppy-driven deliria are delicately sensuous, alluring in a horrific way, and recounted without judgment from the point of view of Anne herself, who of course knows no other way of being. It is heartbreakingly lovely.

But that is only the start of this gorgeously written novel. For Anne, goaded by the words of a woman she admires, finally discovers in herself the will to change her life. What follows attacked my emotions in the way reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening did when I was a teenager—the avid thrill of seeing a woman cast off her chains and actualize herself in the teeth of all restraining pressures and expectations.

Anne is a privileged girl—an heiress in her own right, theoretically commanding wealth and property at least until she marries—but that does not make her free, as her long enslavement to laudanum and the domination of her mother demonstrate. And even if she can shake off those bonds, there is all of society holding her to a place that doesn’t fit her. This book ultimately gives her liberation, but not in a fairy-tale spirit; Molly Greeley’s last book, The Clergyman’s Wife, offered ample warning that as an author she is not into Cinderella stories. Satisfactions don’t all come from falling in love, and joy and heartbreak are meted out evenhandedly here. Both are held in perfect equipoise in the exquisite ending—hence the tears.

The book feels true to the period, if not entirely to Austen’s version of that world, and although Greeley uses modern writerly tactics her language almost never struck me as anachronistic. Her sensibilities as an author are harsher than Austen’s but her sense of humor equally pointed. Speaking of a dinner guest, Mrs. Clifton, Greeley writes, “His wife had hair the color of winter clouds and a cluster of tiny moles, like pink pebbles, just under her jaw, and was usually everything ladylike; but set a pack of cards before her, and she suddenly reminded me of Papa’s hounds before a hunt. When she won a trick, I imagined her tearing out the throat of a fox.” Yowza!

Greeley is also lyrical in a way that avoids cliché and hits notes that at once fresh and inevitable. Told that her mother will soon arrive to curtail her newfound freedom, Anne thinks, “I sat that night in the center of my bed, very still. . . . This was not true life; it was a golden season, pinched from time’s hoop and pocketed all for myself. But soon enough, I would have to step back into the turning hoop with everyone else and face my responsibilities.”

I think I particularly liked how Anne was never disloyal to her life of addiction after she left it behind. It offered haven as well as gifts of beauty and perception that she missed afterward and occasionally found tempting. I have never suffered from addictions beyond chocolate, but that felt true to me. In fact, everything in this lovely book felt true.

For those who prefer “clean” fiction, there are a few gently graphic love scenes that might startle, though to me they were appropriate in context.

[MaryannC Victorian Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the classic Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen this novel centers on one of the lesser characters of P&P, Anne De Bourgh that gives a voice and depth to her character.
Born heiress to Rosings Park, Anne was always considered a sickly child, dominated by her fiercely outspoken mother Catherine, she is regularly dosed with laudanum to keep from overtaxing her delicate nature never able to play with her cousins much less converse with them. As Anne begins to grow up she knows she will one day marry her cousin Mr. Darcy of Pemberly, as was arranged by her mother and aunt, thus uniting two rich families and their estates. Constantly forbidden to venture or voice her own desires Anne is living in a constant stupor of unconsciousness until one day when left alone by her mother decides to forgo the laudanum, disobey and travel to London to visit her cousin and his wife. Away from her mother Anne begins to experience the heightened desires of normal life, to laugh, to feel the air, to smell the flowers and even to experience her first love. This was a well written book exploring the depth and feeling of Anne and all her first experiences leading her to finally stand on her own and take her place in the world and against her mother. A fantastic backstory to a beloved classic.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure how to feel about a spin off of a great classic of literature but I liked this. I enjoyed that the author gave voice to a character who wasn’t given her own in the story she was a part of. That being said a lot of this book was hard to read as it was difficult to sit so long with such grossly abusive behavior, even if those doing it had no idea. Anne is a sickly baby prone to screaming and nothing can soothe her tears until her doctor prescribes laudanum. As dangerous as that would be in itself it doesn’t stop with a dose or two but becomes a necessary “medicine” that Anne takes daily sinking into the easy stupefied dream of being drugged. I wished she had gotten there faster but the story was told realistically, I just wanted her to find her life. The writing was excellent and I would definitely read more by this author.

[wosedwew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy. ~ Chinese Proverb

Anne’s problems with the medical profession begin in the first days of her life. She is a fussy baby with a controlling mother who finds a medicine man able to stop the baby’s fusses. Opium — better than a hundred pacifiers for maintaining quiet in Rosings Park.

But, the quiet does not exist within Anne’s head.

Quote from the book: The voices of all the grown persons in my life buzzed inside my head like the whirring of insect wings, reminding me gently that I was not meant for such darting quickness.

Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh, just, subtle, and mighty opium! ~ Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Part II

Anne’s nurse is at the center of her early life: the caretaker, the teacher, the giver of drops.

Quote from the book: When the weather was fine, and the sun not too strong, Nurse sometimes took me out to the garden, where, if it was too early for my first dose, I practiced reading from the Book of Common Prayer, my tongue stumbling over sentences no more comprehensible than the whispering of the wind through the trees, and far less interesting.

The reader lives inside Anne’s head through much of the book. This author is truly a wordsmith, especially with her descriptions of Anne’s sorrow. Here is a sample:

I stood staring at it, the seed abruptly putting out strangling vines inside of me, which wrapped around my heart, squeezing until I thought it might burst.

It took all my usual disquiet and smoothed it away like the tide over the sand. It made me willing to speak of things I’d never spoken of before—my nighttime visitors; the anger that rose in me with frightening strength when I thought about my mother.

I did not answer, and we sat silently for a moment. I breathed openmouthed into my palms; I could feel my breath, warm and moist, and smell it, faintly sour with fear. The only sound in the room was the rain on the windows, an infernal, endless drumming that put me in mind of Mamma’s fingers on the arm of her chair when she was irritated.

What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains. ~ Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1947

At long last, Anne finds love! Anne’s life has not been ordinary and neither is the one she loves. Anne examines her relationships with various women in her life: her nurse, her childhood governess, and her cousins’ wives. She finally understands why women have been more valued in her life than men. Her path to a happy ending takes as many turns as any other heroine but she arrives.

Scenes of Anne’s life are described in detail — except for some events her mother would consider significant. For Anne, the news that her cousin has refused to marry her is practically a non-event. And when Anne makes her break for freedom, we learn of it only after it has happened.

I particularly liked the ending chapter — beautifully done.

The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself. ~ Gore Vidal

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

”People surprise me but rarely,” Mrs. Darcy said now… “You have, and I am not ashamed to say it.”

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Jane Austen novels in possession of widespread recognition, must be in want of a retelling/sequel/zombiefication. And I read almost all of them: I'm a Jane Austen fan, with Persuasion as my all time fave but you never forget your first love and for me it's Pride and Prejudice. Thus, I read Molly Greeley's The Heiress which gives animation, back AND forward story, and spirit to Anne de Bourgh, "the heiress of Rosings Park", P&P's faux foil to our heroine Elizabeth Bennet and purported intended of Mr. Darcy and thus a miniature impediment to their love story.

Greeley uses some parts of the P&P source material of course - the characters, the setting, some major plot elements - but I was pleasantly surprised just how little Greeley uses the Austen trappings. Instead, she delivers a very interior portrait of a woman coming into her own, breaking free from her dominating mother, lack of self esteem, the strict social conventions of the time, and also bringing to the world of Austen the real life examples of the philosophy of Mary Wollstonecraft and the life of Anne Lister, which makes The Heiress a 21st century feminist romantic novel firmly grounded in Austen contemporary norms and ideas of feminism, female freedom, motherhood, friendship and sexuality. And as we break from what we know of Anne in P&P, the novel steams forward: we are still grounded in Austen but freed as Anne is freed: it's a wonderful duality and our discovery of Greeley's narrative mirrors Anne's own discovery:

I found myself teetering between a blank sort of fear, the unfilled years stretching like great sheets of empty paper before me, on which I had no idea what to write; and a curious giddiness for which nothing logical could account. Everything changed with my cousin’s letter; all certainty was gone from my life, save the one that surrounded and constrained me at all times. ..And yet, even as I felt the house closing around me, I had the strangest sensation of freedom, of having escaped from something, so narrowly that the something nearly rent the skirt of my gown with its claws as I raced away from it.

For the most part, I found that the novel succeeded with its aims: it's a novel of manners and ideas, similarly constrained as the source material, but the depth of the emotion and movement and propulsive growth in Anne's discovery of self and the world around her was well-developed and truly affecting by the end. The changes Greeley makes to Austen canon can still fit with P&P while also providing new avenues to explore and consider. The romance was well drawn and touching, and again I felt struck that fine balance between modern sensibilities and Regency norms. Anne is a LOVER of reading and later writing and in a way that rang very true (and is of course appealing to the Eliza Bennet Stans that love "something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading").

If you like Jane Austen retellings/sequels generally and can work with something still constrained to an Austen-like framework but with modern infusions, you'll like The Heiress. For me, this was better than Longbourn, Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice or The Jane Austen Project and far better than the IMO horrible Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice. If you are in the mood for an Austen extension, The Heiress is a solid, well-told choice. 4 stars.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5++!

The final pages of this book are the most deeply moving I've read in a long time. I found myself crying with a mixture of grief and joy. It's exquisitely poignant, the perfect ending to an extraordinary novel.

This is NOT, strictly speaking, a variation of Pride and Prejudice, though Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy do appear as secondary characters. No, this is Anne de Bourgh's story, told in her own words. And a gripping story it is.

As she tells it, she was a strong, healthy baby at birth but became colicky. Laudanum was prescribed to stop her constant crying, turning her into an addict. Part One has a hazy, lethargic quality to reflect Anne's Alice-in-Wonderland world. Rosings is alive and murmurs to her from the floors, walls, ceilings, and grounds. She hallucinates visits from people she's read about and relations who have died. Anne is somewhat more alert in the mornings but gradually sinks into a stupor once her drops of "medicine" are administered.

She's slightly unsettled (in a detached way) that she's fated to marry her cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy; John (eventually Colonel Fitzwilliam) is the only cousin who ever takes notice of her and attempts to engage her in conversation - the rest ignore her. When Anne's betrothed instead marries Miss Bennet, she feels herself set free despite her inability to imagine a different future.

With her mother, doctor, nurse, and Mrs. Jenkinson all acting as daily drug pushers, Anne is fortunate that Miss Hall, her governess, is wiser. Miss Hall doesn't dare defy her employer openly, but her subtle influence yields fruit years after she's left Lady Catherine's employ. Anne finally breaks out and, at age twenty-nine, becomes the equivalent of a wide-eyed child, seeing the real world for the first time.

Her story moves on, covering her difficult drug withdrawal process, family dynamics (Anne's love/hate relationship with her mother once she's drug-free), women's rights (and lack of them at the time), homosexuality (literally a capital offence for men), love (of all kinds), and triumph over almost insurmountable difficulties.

Ms. Greeley is a true mistress of the written word, grabbing the reader firmly from beginning to end without ever loosening her hold. There is Mature Adult content, though the cerebral quality of the book is unlikely to attract young readers anyway.

It's a wonderful, wonderful book that transcends the JAFF genre.

[Danika at The Lesbrary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big Pride and Prejudice fan, but for some reason, I'm drawn to P&P retellings--especially queer ones. The Heiress is a Pride and Prejudice novel: not exactly a retelling, a prequel, or a sequel, it fills in the story from one of the minor characters of the book: Anne de Bourgh. In case you forgot, Anne is Mr. Darcy’s original fiancee, and Catherine de Bourgh's sickly daughter. In the original book, Anne doesn’t leave a strong impression. This novel gives her centre stage, and makes her a compelling and empathetic character.

This is exactly the kind of excruciating historical lesbian slow burn you love to see. As Anne tries to fit into London society, she becomes fast friends with a woman who is a little too loud and boisterous for Victorians, but Anne can't pull herself away from her. Eliza introduces her to novels and takes her shopping for fashionable clothing. Soon, they are spending almost all of their time together.

This is a book that fits together with Pride and Prejudice, but could also completely stand on its own. Without the references, it would still be a fascinating look at a woman who lived most of her life in a haze and the struggles of coming out of it. The last half of this book is also a beautiful, absorbing F/F romance. It manages to be both a Victorian historical novel and feature a drug addict lesbian main character with no apparent clash between those ideas!

I highly recommend this for fans of historical fiction, whether or not you are a Pride and Prejudice fan.

Full review at the Lesbrary.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greeley's back story and continuation of the life of Anne de Bourgh, a minor character in Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is a compelling and compulsive read. I was transfixed by the tale and totally captivated by the struggles of this heroine who deserved so much more than to be remembered as Mr. Darcy's sickly marital cast-off. Austen fans will be delighted with Greeley's deft hand at creating Austenesque characters, an atmospheric Regency world, and the plotting of a story that is both believable and riveting.

[Susan's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written. Anne is a drug addict, but not by choice. Her mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, imposes her will and her opinion on everyone. Everything must be just as she wills it. To keep her daughter Anne docile and compliant, Anne is given doses of laudanum to "calm her down."

Anne's struggles to wean herself off of this powerful opiate reveals that she can be just as strong-willed as her overbearing mother. Anne slowly takes back her life, learning to fight the cowardly impulse to cringe away from strife and her mother's strident disapproval. A very glum topic, indeed, but Anne is rewarded by a friendship with the unconventional Eliza that inevitably becomes something stronger than friendship. Eliza opens Anne's eyes to the possibilities of love and life outside of the traditional boundaries. This portion of the novel was by turns heartbreaking and heartwarming. The final chapter in this novel was riveting. (No spoilers here!)

I am actually not a great fan of "Austen World" spin offs. When I do feel the urge to revisit favourite Austen fictional characters, I like to imagine my own happy story lines for their possible futures. For the most part, I am content to leave them to their own devices. I love to try new things and Idon't limit my horizon by choosing only this or that genre or author to devote myself to. Austen is my childhood hero, but we have so much to learn from all the really wonderful writers out there. Austen herself was a prolific reader. I like to think I'm following in her footsteps when I take a chance on NetGalley and request a book by a debut author in a genre I don't usually read. We are all creatures of habit, but I like to shake things up a bit! Keeps you young at heart!

But I digress: this spin-off of Pride and Prejudice is dark (definitely nothing light and frothy here!) So, if abusive, controlling relationships, mental health issues and drug addiction are triggers for you, then this is not the book for you. For everyone else, this is a very thought provoking offshoot involving a minor character of the P & P novel. Very well written!

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh was an interesting retelling to dive into. My love for Pride and Prejudice will continue to grow no matter what because of my love of Elizabeth and Darcy. So to go into more details about Anne's own life, well I was dying to figure out what was wrong with her and what was going to happen as well.

I loved absolutely everything about Anne. At first, I was a bit skeptical because of how "sick" she was. Mostly because it seemed like the medicine that her mother, maid, nurse, and doctor were all for was definitely hurting her more than helping. It also seemed rather odd that no one in her family would step up and say something. Eventually her cousin helped out but by then it kind of seemed lame.

Anne was a strong and likable character. She definitely grew throughout the book and fell in love. Of course she had to deal with a broken heart or two along the way but once she knew what she wanted - she went for it whole heartedly.

This book was completely delightful and I loved devouring each and every page. I will admit though that the ending was bittersweet for me.

[Finola Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting. In The Heiress, Molly Greeley shines a light on the darkness cloaking Anne de Bourgh, Lady Catherine's sickly daughter and Mr. Darcy's intended. The result is a novel with all the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Gothic, which doesn't shy away from "modern" ills, such as the opiate crisis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and homophobia. Highly recommended.

[Jassmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memories of my early life begin slow and dreamy as any on my nurse's stories. They meander like dust motes in the shafts of sunlight that came in through the nursery window. I was not supposed to dance, myself, but I could pretend, in the hours I spent watching those flecks twirl and collide, that I was one of them, a member of the set.

I feel obliged to say that this book won't be for everybody. The first third is painfully slow, but there are reasons for it to be that way. The book wouldn't work otherwise. Anne is laudanum addict from early childhood without realising it and her being high most of the time gives the first third of the book dreamlike poetic quality in gorgeously written prose.
I have been really craving a grumpy protagonist lately and while Anne wasn't quite that, she still (mostly) scratched that spot. As someone who is struggling with chronic fatigue in the last few years, it was so refreshing to read about this girl who sits or lies around most of the time, being the observer, separated from her surroundings.

I had spent half a decade, after all, sitting beside her in church, watching her when I ought to have been listening to the sermon.

The whole story also feels very real-life, especially concerning Anne's crushes (mild spoilers ahead? I feel like there isn't much I could spoil for you with this book... I'm discussing who Anne doesn't end up with...). For big chunk of the book, it's unclear with whom Anne ends up with and it's not because of some silly love triangles. It's because there is one really important female figure in Anne's life - her governess Miss Hall - that has incredible impact on Anne's life and Anne has a crush on her. When Anne makes the decision to change her life's direction, I think I wasn't the only one who expected that she'll try to find Miss Hall. They never meet again, Anne never tries even though she's always on the lookout for her on the street. This felt really real to me, the way their relationship is never resolved.

The rose garden where we currently sat was adorned by classical sculptures Papa ordered, sculptures with long, curving lines, round-limbed women whose state of general undress displeased my mother. The one nearest us now had one shoulder hitched invitingly; I liked to imagine she looked back at me with a fascination equal to my own as I studied her.

The next thing we absolutely need to talk about is the ✨sapphic lusting✨ in this. It was delightful! I loved it, it just felt so real and relatable. The things & people Anne de Bourgh has a crush on: antique statues in the rose garden (can relate), her governess (I mean, who doesn't... if one has one that is...), Elizabeth Bennet (obviously) and her ginger haired freckled friend. She also wonders whether petting man's arm would be the same as petting a dog, because of the hair... she's such a lesbian, I can't!
Since we are on this theme already, I would like to add that this book has strong erotic qualities to it. Don't get me wrong, it's not exactly smutty, but thanks to Anne's illness it's focused on the body and the way it comes to life. Erotic gaze is part of this, but also... I wouldn't say there are sex scenes exactly in this book, but sex is very present and partly on page.

But I could not speak sensibly, my mouth crowded with thoughts of tiger-souls and tiger-hope, and the hopelessly insensible urge to unlatch the tiger's cage and see all its potential unleashed on the world.

I couldn't put this book down and I was absolutely high on it. This isn't exactly a romance in the traditional sense, but I loved the love story, I adored the language this was written in, I loved the characters. I loved Molly Greeley's take on Lady Catherine de Bourgh it felt both very accurate and humanising. Overall, this was just excellent, I'm speechless, I think this is a new favourite...

I would also recommend Alexis Hall's review to your attention, I agree with everything he sais and he wrote his review in much more organised fashion 🤭

[aza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled on this book by chance - more specifically, I was on the library app and asked for any General Fiction book with the LGBT tag that was Available Now, and here this book was.

Let me preface this by saying that I have never read Pride and Prejudice , so I came into this book completely blind about every character involved, especially Anne de Bourgh. Therefore I cannot say anything comparing the language or style of that novel to this one, but I can say that I loved the stylistic choices made here.

We are introduced to the young Miss Anne de Bourgh. Anne was very fussy as a baby, later in the book her mother claims that little Anne would be screaming all hours of the days and nights, and to soothe her the doctor prescribed laudanum. At one point Anne’s father attempts to take her for a natural cure in the waters, but naturally taking anyone off an opiate is a terrifying experience, and Anne’s mother declares that no one shall ever again attempt to take Anne off laudanum.

A surprising chunk of the book is of Anne in her drugged out state. I knew that she would get off them eventually and go to London, since that is part of the book’s summary, but it takes a very long time to get there. As readers we experience the world the way Anne does, slow and hazily while on her drops. She is so lulled by them that she watches the world go by her in a haze, and regards the way that other’s perceive her slowly, and we can see how slowly her mind works through what she observes.

Once Anne arrives in London, the pace of the book speeds up and we experience the shock of the big city alongside Anne. She is completely inexperienced in most aspects, even the way she speaks is different than the other ladies of her status. We feel awkward and restless alongside Anne as she struggles to find her place, we watch her find her first true friendship, experience the pain and passion of loving someone who she shouldn’t, and the exhilaration of finding one’s self and starting anew.

This book is full of feminist language and yearning from a time and society where women were not given much agency, and as an added bonus it includes multiple queer characters from a place when being queer could spell a death sentence. I also liked the ending, which I think reflected a fair amount of themes from Pride and Prejudice (theme and summary taken from Sparknotes lol), especially the idea of “First Impressions”, which is returned to several times in this novel.

[Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Raw and Real Reclamation of Anne de Bourgh

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Author

TYPE OF NOVEL: Secondary character story, Pride and Prejudice sequel featuring Anne de Bourgh

THE PREMISE: For 29 years Anne de Bourgh has been given daily drops of laudanum as a cure for her supposed “delicate” health, and she now tests the waters to determine if her precious medicine is truly a cure or a curse…

MY THOUGHTS: Molly Greeley’s writing is exquisite. I absolutely love her choices to write about Anne de Bourgh and to tell such a unique and revealing tale about her. Her beautifully executed first person point-of-view delivers a truly intimate and impartial account of Jane Austen’s “sickly and cross” character, and deftly explores who is Anne de Bourgh when you strip away her overbearing mother, her position as heiress and future mistress of Pemberley, and her stupefied fog caused by an opium addiction.

As readers witnessed in her exceptional story about Charlotte Colins – The Clergyman’s Wife – Molly Greeley is not shy about sharing the unhappy realities of life and the unvarnished truth and challenges her characters experience. I greatly admired and appreciated how she dauntlessly canvassed topics and situations that existed but are not often spoken of or written about such as opium addiction, the physical and mental effects of substance withdrawal, and the exploration of unconventional paths and identities. I was absolutely delighted with the unexpected directions this story traveled and with the beautifully stirring and satisfying romance Ms. Greeley constructed. In addition, I was impressed with her adept depiction of Anne’s experiences under the influence of laudanum. The descriptions of the sensations Anne feels, the foggy and hallucinogenic sounds and sights, and her abstract reveries brought such a vivid sense of what this drug does to the mind.

I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to Molly Greeley for penning such incredibly moving and authentic stories about Jane Austen’s secondary characters, and for continuing to highlight the struggles and the victories of women living in the Regency era as they try to carve out lives of their own. This tale about Anne de Bourgh battling her imposed limitations, becoming herself, and seizing her own future was in every way spectacular. The Heiress is an evocative and empowering Austenesque tale that should not be missed!

Austenesque Reviews

[Corrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

This was a marvelous reimagining of Anne de Bourgh’s life. Fans of Jane Austen will undoubtedly know her from Pride and Prejudice. We follow her from the cradle to the grave. Author Molly Greeley chose to tell the story in four parts. Part one being at Rosings Park, Kent, where Anne spends her first 29 years in a laudanum-induced stupor, courtesy of her domineering mother lady Catherine de Bourgh. This is the slowest part and we almost despair for poor addle-brained Anne as life is just passing her by.

The pace picks up in part two when Anne decides (on a whim) to invite herself to her cousin’s London residence. Away from her mother’s smothering influence – and the laudanum – a whole new world opens up to Anne as she is slowly blossoming into health and the woman who was always lurking under the surface.

I really loved Greeley’s style. It is captivating with a dark, Gothic undertone that switches to sensual giddiness when Anne meets Eliza Amherst. Very satisfying and a must read for Regency lovers and Jane Austen aficionados.

I will listen to the audio book version (available on Scribd) very soon as well.

f/f

Themes: Kent, Rosings Park, laudanum addiction, an arranged marriage falling through, London, going cold turkey, the hovering Mr. Watters, stolen moments with Eliza, duty calls, the emancipation of Anne.

5 Stars

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straddling the line between slumber and a sheltered existence, Anne de Bourgh's fragile world is shattering. To quiet her mother and the doctor's nerves, Anne is prescribed laudanum as a baby to stop her screaming. The amber droplets silence her temper but drift her into a coma-like condition.

When awake, she's portrayed as a porcelain doll and shelved from life's lessons. Living in a perfumed permeance, a gutsy governess challenges Anne to look beyond her gilded cage and embrace her future. Readers will delight in Anne's Austin-inspired chrysalis and Chopin's Awakening.

Thank you to #NetGally and the publisher for the early read in exchange for an honest review. From Kent to bustling London, Molly Greeley's #TheHeiress inspires readers to travel outside their comfort zones and beyond the pandemic's walls.

While taking precautions, we need to keep living to avoid becoming shadows of our former selves. Publishing at a time when we're trapped by our fears and facing an uncertain future, Greeley's novel harnesses the power to achieve our dreams.

[Diana Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when a book I've eagerly anticipated turns out to be just as good as I hoped. That is certainly the case with The Heiress. About a year ago, I read Molly Greeley's first novel, The Clergyman's Wife, (which was also a Pride and Prejudice spin-off) and it became my favorite book in the genre. Now that place has been taken by The Heiress, because it not only showcases Greeley's beautiful, intelligent writing but also includes a lovely wlw relationship. I also enjoyed witnessing the protagonist take charge of her life. The progression felt both authentic and highly satisfying.

The first third of the novel is slow, (as other reviewers have mentioned), but it paints a vivid picture of Anne's life before she manages to stop taking laudanum. The rest of the book wouldn't be nearly so successful, if the reader didn't first understand what Anne has been through.

If you enjoy believable, nuanced historical fiction, (and don't need a bunch of whiz-bang action), then I highly recommend The Heiress. Even more so if you appreciate a heartwarming wlw relationship and stories of women coming into their own.