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

4.0

A Jane Austen canon extension, featuring the first-person narration of Anne de Bourgh, whose "sickliness" as a child is treated with laudanum, a treatment that continues into Anne's young adulthood. Until a letter from a previous governess prods the dreamy, half-drugged young woman to question the rightness of what she's always taken for granted, and she makes a break for freedom. Anne's first-person narrative voice put me more in mind of Charlotte Brontë than Austen—not at all a drawback, just a note that the prose is far more introspective and elegant than I was expecting. It's been a while since I took such pleasure in a writer's prose; Greeley is a superb, understated stylist. Will have to go back and check out her first book, [b:The Clergyman's Wife: A Pride & Prejudice Novel|44286204|The Clergyman's Wife A Pride & Prejudice Novel|Molly Greeley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569893224l/44286204._SY75_.jpg|67107724], an imagining of the story of Charlotte Lucas/Collins.