The Heiress

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"As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh was prescribed laudanum by her doctor to quiet her, and now the young woman must take t... (more)

"As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh was prescribed laudanum by her doctor to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy syrup every day. Growing up confined to her father's mansion, Anne had few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy, whom she is meant to marry. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her. When her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a shocking moment of clarity: What if her life of fragility and illness isn’t truly real? What if she could free herself from the medicine that she's been told she can't live without? In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to her cousin in London, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Gone are her hallucinations and lethargy, now replaced by a keen, unsettling awareness of her own inexperience in the ways of the world. Anne must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate high society and the heartbreak of forbidden love. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver, more confident woman—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 the light in Austen's world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart"-- (less)