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A review by lory_enterenchanted
The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley
Read for Austen in August 2022 -- I always swear off Austen adaptations/continuations for a while but then am lured back in. Sometimes I'm sorry (leading to another swearing-off period), but this one was not a disappointment. I do think I enjoy most the ones like this, that take secondary characters and imagine a backstory for them, leaving the main plot and characters alone. And this was a terrific premise -- that the limp nonentity Anne de Bourgh, intended bride (intended by her mother anyway) of Mr. Darcy, was actually under the influence of laudanum, given to her from childhood as it was to so many of her time. This medicine caused the illness it was supposed to be treating -- which is an excellent point to explore, but instantly modernizes the point of view, because few if any contemporaries of Austen would have seen this, and none would have had our current knowledge and sad experience of the processes and costs of addiction.
Greely started off well with this idea, not making the modern POV too obtrusive while plausibly exploring the ramifications, bringing Anne to life even as her life is being shut down and stolen from her by the drug. And her escape to London was splendidly satisfying, as she chose to determine her own life and go through the pain of withdrawal.
After this, things got less psychologically complex and interesting. After nearly 30 years of laudanum use, would it really be so easy to throw it off? There were a few twinges of "I'd like my drops now" but that was it, and it seems quite unlikely to me. Plus, a romance with another young lady was sweet but also a little unsatisfying for some reason. I wish things had not gone so fast and that the end had not been so tidy and pat.
Austen would never have written a character like this, and yet her alternate universe somehow makes sense and is enjoyable in itself, and that's how a spin-off works best in my opinion. Nobody can write like Austen, so it's better not to try. But in terms of compassionate insight into the failings of characters Austen herself dismisses quite thoughtlessly, we can make improvements. The Heiress does this without distorting the source material, and that's not a bad achievement.
Greely started off well with this idea, not making the modern POV too obtrusive while plausibly exploring the ramifications, bringing Anne to life even as her life is being shut down and stolen from her by the drug. And her escape to London was splendidly satisfying, as she chose to determine her own life and go through the pain of withdrawal.
After this, things got less psychologically complex and interesting. After nearly 30 years of laudanum use, would it really be so easy to throw it off? There were a few twinges of "I'd like my drops now" but that was it, and it seems quite unlikely to me. Plus, a romance with another young lady was sweet but also a little unsatisfying for some reason. I wish things had not gone so fast and that the end had not been so tidy and pat.
Austen would never have written a character like this, and yet her alternate universe somehow makes sense and is enjoyable in itself, and that's how a spin-off works best in my opinion. Nobody can write like Austen, so it's better not to try. But in terms of compassionate insight into the failings of characters Austen herself dismisses quite thoughtlessly, we can make improvements. The Heiress does this without distorting the source material, and that's not a bad achievement.