A review by desiree930
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley

emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 

I love Pride and Prejudice. It's one of my favorite stories of all time. I want to love Pride & Prejudice retellings, but they don't always live up to my expectations. I went into this book, a story about the very minor character of Anne de Bourgh, with cautious optimism. Truthfully, it was that gorgeous cover that first drew my eye, even before realizing what the book was about. Can we just take a second and take it in? Wow.

I've always wondered about Anne de Bourgh. She has zero personality on the page of the source text, and no adaptations that I've seen/read have really tried to flesh out her character whatsoever. Why was she sickly? What are her feelings about her mother? Her cousin? Elizabeth Bennet? I was really intrigued to see what this author would do to expand upon the world of P&P and this character in particular, and for the most part I think she succeeded.

I thought the idea that Anne was 'sickly' because she was being overmedicated to the point of addiction was brilliant. It made complete sense in the context of her character in P&P, the way she was just silent in the background. It also made sense to me that her mother would choose something like laudanum as a remedy for her fussy baby. After all, how dare the child of Catherine de Bourgh be anything other that mild and obedient?

The first part of the book, almost to the 50% mark, covers her birth through the point where she decides to break away from her mother and her laudanum-infused haze. And I have to admit, I felt like it took a little too long to get to the point of the book where she actually takes control of her own life. I enjoyed it, but her life was very repetitive up to that point and it started to drag a bit for me. I think it's highly possible this was an intentional choice the author made to simulate for the reader the languid dragging nature of Anne's day-to-day life. I just wish it had been a touch shorter.

As far as the second part of the story, it didn't suddenly become an action-packed romp just because Anne decided to assert her independence. This is still very much a character study with quiet moments of introspection taking center stage. I could see many people not enjoying this book if they went into it expecting a big plot or if they didn't like being in Anne's head.

The references to Pride & Prejudice are there, but are not central to the story. We see Darcy and Elizabeth a handful of times, and though they are ultimately involved in Anne's story, it's on the periphery and they are never front and center. It was interesting to see Darcy and especially Elizabeth through her eyes. They both felt very familiar and I think the author did a wonderful job at integrating them into the story just enough.

The ending of this book is beautiful and bittersweet. I don't want to say any more than that, but I absolutely loved the last chapter and think it wrapped up her story perfectly.

I know that this author has another book about Charlotte Collins, and I am really looking forward to reading that book as well.
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