This is perfect for fans of Jane Austen
I loved the gothic historical style
The pacing was slow but it worked in this book
A great book

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

The Heiress by Molly Greeley

A story about Anne de Bourgh the heiress of Rosings Park a minor character in Pride and Prejudice . That is where this story expands where the original would only touch on about Anne’s addiction as a small child having been given laudanum the drug to keep a sickly children but as time passes her governess tries give her limited powers and does her best to do so and develop any talents Anne to please her difficult mother.

The book shows a relationship between mother and daughter her as future heir utmost . How Anne overcomes her situation and how her emancipation and she develop with the help of other who do have her own well being at heart.

A very interesting book set of the period. Very enjoyable.

Written in the style of Jane Austin, THE HEIRESS is the story of Anna De Bough, a cousin of the Darcy's who had a very interesting life herself.

Anna is an addict. She has been regularly dosed with laudanum for most of her life. She has been convinced that the "medicine" is to treat her lethargy and mental slowness. When Anne realizes that the doses could be responsible for her symptoms, she rids herself of the drug and suffers through withdrawal. This leaves her, for the first time in her life, clear headed and ready to join the world she has been kept from. The story is neatly broken down between the before and after, drawing such a remarkable difference, it's hard to recognize the old Anne.

This is not a dramatic book. Molly Greeley has spent the time and effort to build a realistic Anne and her life. She makes Anne the hero of her own life. It was a very good read. I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys Austen's books or those written of that particular time period.

I was in two minds about picking this up as I'm aware that I can be quite hard to please when it comes to Austen-related spin-offs. Or indeed any spin-off from any book that I have loved. I forget that my interpretation is not the only true way and I have been responsible for some quite vitriolic reviews in the past. So when I say that this book was a pleasant surprise, please be aware that this is high praise. In fairness, Greeley has chosen one of the lesser-known characters from Pride and Prejudice. Miss Anne De Bourgh is never heard to speak within the original novel but she has made reliable appearances in spin-offs such as Charlotte and Mr Darcy's Diary. Greeley however grants her a back story which is both plausible and heartbreaking and which made me reflect on her role in the source material in new ways. So often overshadowed by her overbearing mother, it is easy to forget that Miss De Bourgh is not in fact the heiress but rather the mistress of Rosings. Why then is she such a wispy and shadowy figure?

'I was not always small and sickly'. With these opening words, Greeley signals to the reader that all is not what it appears. A healthy but fussy infant, the baby Anne is prescribed laudanum to soothe her screaming and thus begins a lifelong dependence. Every day she is given her dose, first by her nurse and later by her companion Mrs Jenkinson. Discouraged from any strenuous activity be it mental or physical, Miss De Bourgh spends her days in a daze. Once a year her cousins visit, including Fitzwilliam Darcy who is expected to become her husband. Her future thus assured, her mother Lady Catherine makes it clear that further comment on Anne's health is unnecessary and unwelcome. But over time, Anne herself begins to question the role her medicine plays. Her mother insists that she take it, but can Anne stand up to Lady Catherine at last?

There are a number of reasons why The Heiress manages to be such a successful spin-off. First of all, Greeley has a gift for prose. Very wisely, she never attempts to mimic Austen and so her narrator has a presence of her own. The early sections of the novel have a dream-like quality as Anne watches the world from the depths of her drugged stupor. Her wits slowed by the laudanum, Anne is a peculiar narrator drifting high above the action and unable to truly connect with those around her. During one childhood visit, her cousin John Fitzwilliam scolds Darcy for not talking to her and in a scene reminiscent of his first meeting with Elizabeth, he asks what point there is in trying to converse with a doll. The Heiress presents an entirely plausible explanation for Miss De Bourgh's poor health, a topic which is always skirted over in the novel. Indeed Greeley even suggests a kind of taboo around the subject, with Mr Darcy's mother expressing concern over her namesake's health and being dismissed by Lady Catherine. Decades later, a local couple mention their disquiet about their infant grandchild being given laudanum and when Lady Catherine trumpets its efficacy in the case of her daughter, awkward glances are exchanged. Everyone can see that Miss De Bourgh is stoned out of her mind but nobody feels able to voice their concerns in front of her mother.


Miss Anne De Bourgh - 1995 version
Another success for The Heiress is that Greeley has managed to pitch her plot fairly independently. Too many spin-offs can descend into robotic updates on all of the original cast. Greeley remembers that her protagonist has led an isolated and privileged life and spent the majority of her life heavily dosed with laudanum. Miss Anne spares not a thought for the doings of Mr Collins or his wife. Even the interactions between her and Darcy are fairly few and far between. Anne knows from childhood that she is to marry him and for this reason she does not need to waste her time on accomplishments to attract a suitor, nor need she worry about learning how to manage her estate. But the two cousins barely speak. When Darcy is encouraged by Anne's kindlier cousin John Fitzwilliam to speak to her more, he retorts that there is no point conversing with a doll, in an exchange eerily similar to his first remarks to Bingley on his future wife.

For all this though, The Heiress made me consider the function of Miss De Bourgh within Pride and Prejudice as I never had before. She is such a forgettable character that she never seems a true romantic rival for Elizabeth. Indeed, there is no real rival within the narrative. Miss Bingley has designs on Mr Darcy but it is always clear that he has no interest in her. But it is strange that Miss Bingley believes the field to be open when it is apparently common knowledge that Mr Darcy is to marry his cousin. Miss De Bourgh represents privilege, rank and wealth. These are all things that Elizabeth does not have. I had never quite considered that in proposing to Elizabeth, Mr Darcy was rejecting Rosings. And when he made his first proposal, he was at Rosings. As he strode through the woods trying to run into Miss Bennet, did he think to himself that if she became his wife, he would be giving up being master of all that was around him? Did he harbour any regrets?


Lady Catherine with Miss Anne De Bourgh
Pride and Prejudice represents a town versus country conflict. When Lady Catherine decries that the shades of Pemberley might be so polluted, she is talking about the influx of people with trade connections such as the Gardiners. But this tug of war exists throughout the novel. The Bingleys wish to appear as though they are people of rank, hence the sisters' hope that Charles will purchase an estate, but the family cannot escape their town roots since their fortune was made through trade. If Mr Darcy did marry his cousin Anne, he would be staying resolutely away from town, trade and any kind of new thinking. There is also the suggestion of in-breeding given their close familial relationship, further cemented within P&P by the suggestions of Anne's delicate health. By contrast, Darcy feels an overpowering physical attraction to Elizabeth. Full of her own prejudice, Elizabeth declares Miss De Bourgh on sight as an ideal spouse for the version of Mr Darcy that she has dreamed up. A less complex novel than P&P would have set Anne up as the rival. Instead it is her mother who states her claim to the man - quite literally the ancestors rather than the new generation. As the reader and Elizabeth witness Darcy's utter indifference to his cousin, we realise that he never seriously considered the match. And thus early seeds are sown that perhaps Mr Darcy is less haughty about his bloodline than had been supposed. We see that quite possibly, like Elizabeth, Mr Darcy has a streak of the rebel in him.

But these musings put Anne De Bourgh in the background of her own spin-off. Greeley continues the town-country conflict by having Anne's parents represent both sides of the coin. She rarely sees her father Lewis De Bourgh since he is always at London. Her mother seldom leaves Rosings and forbids Anne from ever doing so, lest London's sooty air worsen her health still further. So when Anne finally rebels, her natural destination is of course London. After so long under the spell of laudanum, we finally see Anne come to life. Seeking refuge with her cousin John, Anne finally acknowledges and breaks free from her addiction. This again makes for an interesting read for the twenty-first century reader as Anne, so long in a daze, has to learn how the world around her operates. She needs to remember to stand up to acknowledge new guests. She has to ask how to pay for things in shops, whether by setting up an account or by actually having her own money. But beyond all of this, she has to recognise something about her own self.

Again, The Heiress got me thinking about how a Regency woman would come to terms with her own sexuality. In Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen lampoons the notion put forward by Samuel Richardson that it was inappropriate for a woman to dream of a man before he dreamed of her. Until the man declared himself to the lady, the maiden lady ought to be unaware of her own feelings. As he proposes marriage, she can suddenly awake to herself and realise that she has loved him all along. Rolling her eyes to her audience, Austen highlights this as utterly ludicrous. But if one spent a life in as isolated a situation as Miss Anne De Bourgh - and there were many like her - with one's reading material and social circle so heavily circumscribed, how might one ever understand same-sex attraction? It is one thing for a Regency gentleman who might go to university or become an officer or partake in a gentleman's club. For a woman, opportunities would have been far more circumscribed. As Anne grows up, her governess glimpses at Anne's sexuality and draws away in dismay. But Anne herself remains in ignorance.

One of my pet peeves in fiction is when a heroine undergoes a makeover and it apparently solves all of her previous problems. This trope is common in the multitude of spin-offs centred around Mary Bennet. The Heiress does not resort to this idea and Anne's awakening is more gradual. There is the question mark of how far her mother is responsible for what Anne's life has been so far. Certain characters suggest that Lady Catherine was simply a mother who could not bear to see her baby cry. Having had a colicky baby myself, I well understand that impulse. In my sleep-deprived and hormone-induced desperation, I can imagine how I might have been vulnerable to persuasion if a doctor had recommended a similar remedy. Anything to make the poor baby stop screaming. I am grateful therefore to my steadfast partner who stands firm, does his research and will not budge until he is satisfied. However, Lady Catherine is not rendered particularly sympathetic in this version. She expresses sincere grief upon the death of her sister and none at all after the passing of her husband. She blocks the input of anyone who might introduce Anne to new ideas or new thinking. So the reader can understand why Anne feels that it has suited Lady Catherine to have a docile daughter. Lady Catherine proudly trumpeted how she was more than capable of managing a large estate, having managed her father's before her brother reached his majority. So absolute is her confidence that the whole world has forgotten that she is not the mistress of Rosings. That title belongs to Anne.

It is no easy task to break free from the bounds of an overbearing mother, particularly one that you love sincerely. Greeley captures the small steps and the big ones, from Anne selecting her own clothes to choosing her own destiny. The Heiress is a thoughtful novel and its depiction of the push-pull between mother and daughter feels true to life, with Anne trying to maintain that delicate balance of living her own life while also managing her mother's narcissistic demands. Greeley has considered carefully the ramifications of a long-term laudanum addiction, with descriptions of its impact on menstruation, constipation and withdrawal, all of which help support this as a credible explanation for why Miss De Bourgh might have seemed so silent and uncommunicative in Pride and Prejudice. A fascinating and thought-provoking piece of psychological fiction, The Heiress has made Miss Anne De Bourgh a compelling heroine, which all true Austen fans will recognise as quite the creative feat.

I love books that explore side characters unfortunately this book doesn't make my top list. I can't put my finger on what was missing but I just couldn't get into it. A part from that the author did do a good job, just not one I would re-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I ended up DNFing this around 79%
I thought I could power through until the end but sadly I couldn't.
I found myself bored the entire time.
Anne was a dull character to me. Mixed with a slow paced book and I just struggled to care.

This is the fascinating story of the heiress of Rosings Park: Anne de Bourgh, a minor character in Pride and Prejudice, takes centre stage in this novel.
I really liked the writing style. Most of my friends have read it after hearing me talk about it so much.

Wow this book has it all! Addiction, female oppression, lady love in corsets and flowing skirts. A great twist on the usual Jane Austin imitations, a dark yet ultimately uplifting story where the heroine prevails.

It was a great novel. Loved reading it and the writer is great. Would most likely read again and recommend to others.

An intriguing premise for this second novel by Molly Greeley which re-imagines the story of a minor character in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’. In ‘The Clergyman’s Wife’ it was Charlotte Collins, in ‘The Heiress’ it’s the turn of Anne de Bourgh.
Well-written in a slightly modernised style of Austen, it is easy to slip into the head of Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s sickly daughter who at first sight seems an unpromising protagonist. But keep reading. Greeley starts with the birth of a daughter to a young married couple. In order for this book to work you have to both forget Austen’s portrayal of Anne, to sink yourself into the life of this delicate child, but also to remember the original. That is the path to enjoying the asides, thoughts and occasionally darting but puzzling urges that Anne experiences growing up. Scenes I looked forward to, critical in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, were skirted over here in favour of new material. Familiar characters occur, some more importantly than others - Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr Collins - but this is 100% Anne’s story.
Sickly from birth, Anne is dosed twice daily with laudanum drops. She is protected from exertion, emotions and unspecified dangers of the outside. Playing the piano is too strenuous, novels and poetry too emotional. Then when she is twelve after an unsuccessful treatment of sea bathing, Anne’s life change when a governess arrives. This is not yet the nodding Mrs Jenkinson from Austen but Miss Hall, a young woman determined to teach her unschooled young pupil what she needs to know to be the future mistress of Pemberley and Rosings.
This is a story of laudanum addiction, the tentacles of the drug’s control preventing any small rebellion by Anne, any protestation that she feels healthy before her curative drops are administered and only weak afterwards. Cocooned from emotion, her true personality smothered, Anne lives at a distance from those closest to her. An article in a newspaper is to be the catalyst for change. But change of any kind takes immense courage, needing a confrontation with her controlling mother. Greeley gives Lady Catherine a moment of redemption though as we, and Anne, catch a glint of history that explains the elderly woman portrayed by Austen and challenged so gleefully by Lizzie Bennet.
For Anne to fulfill Miss Hall’s objective of being a fit mistress of the estate of Rosings, she must do more than break free of drugs. She must discover the truth of who she is.
A fascinating exploration of one woman’s search for freedom in a time of female subjugation to men, when females were labelled as delicate with little diagnosis or review, when many women were unable to live alone or manage their own inheritance. At times surprising, the detail of ‘The Heiress’ is Austen-like but the emotions are of the twenty-first century.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

This was really well done! Although I haven’t read any myself until now, I understand that the market for Jane Austen inspired fiction is both swollen and patchy. Luckily, on my first attempt, I can happily dismiss this as irrelevant. This was very much in keeping with Pride and Prejudice and merged seamlessly with the original story. I loved Anne’s journey from incapacitated invalid to strong confident woman in charge of her own affairs, the estate and her own sexuality. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Historical fiction is my Achilles heel trope in reading. And man oh man this book delivers. Happy to receieve the arc from the Author and NetGalley..

excellent reading - and had me engaged straight away, caring abt this clearly doctor/drug induced semi-life - i did not find myself thinking back about the Austen novels at all, just revelled in the world Greeley creates ... a lovely and convincing romance of forbidden love (that flourished in those days, unnoticed usually since women could have close unremarked friendships with other women ... and a character I rooted for ... really good!

I have to say, I wasn't expecting this to be quite so gay. And it worked so well.

This got me so excited about the Pride & Prejudice universe, in a way that I haven't been for a long time. I loved Anne's story, how her health and how she was treated were explored, how her feelings were brought to the surface. I thought it was very clever, and it came across as very real. When I was reading it, it was like of course that's why! It just made sense.

Excellent exploration of quite difficult themes. And I really liked that this wasn't a hopeful book. It was dark, and it stayed dark even as Anne glimpsed happiness. It felt almost heavy on my soul to read, almost crushing. It's an emotional experience, reading this book, and I wouldn't change a moment.

I do love an Austen spin-off, and this one was....different. Props to the author for not trying to copy Miss Austen's inimitable style (I hate it when authors try), and for writing a dark, compelling story around a character that never had any lines in the original story. Also love the queer love story! A pleasant read, nothing life-changing, but worth the time.

I thought this was an interesting modern companion novel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The author brings a gothic feel to the world of Austen, and a hint of sapphic romance - writing back to the Regency period in the same way Sarah Waters has with the Victorian period. Anne de Bourg, a bit player in Pride and Prejudice, is given the spotlight here. A thin, pale, sickly girl in Austen, here we find out she has been taking laudanum all her life. Now she is addicted, kept indoors, kept safe and pretty much under the control of her formidable mother Lady Catherine. Her childhood companion was her cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy and it was widely expected that they would marry. We join the story after Darcy chooses Elizabeth Bennett.

I love that Anne has this awakening and wonders would she be as unwell if she stopped taken the substance that keeps her sleepy and indoors all the time. Could she possibly have a life? I thought it was really interesting to see this woman take control over her own life. I think the possibility that she might me a lesbian would never have occurred to me. It’s an interesting idea and I might have dismissed it had I not read Gentleman Jack last year. What was great was it was handled beautifully, not as this huge transgressive thing, but as a sweet friends to lovers romance. I loved that. There is a huge part of the enjoyment that’s in watching this young woman standing up to her awful mother. All in all it’s an interesting possible story for a character we barely get to know in Pride and Prejudice.

As a fussy baby, Anne De Bourgh was prescribed laudanum to quiet her and has been given the opium-heavy syrup ever since on account of her continuing ill health. While her mother is outraged when cousin, Darcy chooses not to marry Anne, as has been long planned, Anne can barely raise her head to acknowledge the fact. But little by little, she comes to see that what she has always been told is an affliction of nature might in fact be one of nurture - and one, therefore, that she can beat.
In a frenzy of desperation, she throws away her laudanum and seeks refuge at the London home of her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Suddenly wide awake to the world but utterly unprepared, Anne must forge a new identity among those who have never seen the real her - including herself.

Anne De Bourgh spends the first part of her life in an opium induced daze. The first half of the book chronicles this time. The author shows us Anne's pitiable existence and bizarre inner world. When she finds the strength to break free of her addiction (and her mother!) she faces a completely new world. The book follows Anne in her gradual exploration of new places, new people and a greater understanding of herself.

The conclusion of the book is a lyrical description of Anne's inner experience, of the last hours of her life. It was beautiful, life affirming and made me cry!


I would recommend this book to all JAFF readers.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All views expressed are my own.

Anne de Bourgh, a sickly and rather vapid young lady, her destiny of marrying her cousin Mr Darcy thwarted by one Elizabeth Bennet, lives at Rosings Park with her overbearing mother Lady Catherine de Bourgh - until finally she is inspired to cease taking the laudanum drops that her doctor has treated her with since infancy, and seek her proper place in society.

As Austen-inspired fiction, this works very well - the characters that appear in Pride and Prejudice are recognisable and believable here, and the development of Anne's backstory works very well, fleshing out a side character from Austen's novel. But it is not necessary to have read Pride and Prejudice to thoroughly enjoy this story, which is a standalone story on its own that just happens to reference some of the same characters and locations. I thought it was beautifully written and I loved it.

It was nice to read a book featuring a character from a Jane Austen book that wasn't trying to mimic the style of Austen.

Anne de Bourgh is a fractious baby and is prescribes laudanum for her. Funnily enough, Anne becomes addicted to this and due to this, she is a weak child, becoming a weak woman.

Thankfully, Anne eventually inherits the family estate and is able to become stronger, thanks to this.