"An immersive queer reimagining" of the bride Mr. Darcy rejected to marry Elizabeth Bennett "reveal[s] the hidden depths of her character" ( Publishers Weekly).
As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh was prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Sheltered, Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne.
After her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a 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 clouds her sharp mind and leaves her body weak? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?
Desperate, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, who helps her through her recovery. Yet once she returns to health, the utterly experienced heiress must navigate a "season" in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman-leading to a powerful reckoning with the domineering mother determined to control Anne's fortune . . . and her life.
"Intricate, masterly, and delightfully imaginative." - Library Journal, starred review
"Greeley is faithful to the original story, while creating an imaginative and vivid inner life for the beleaguered Anne." - Booklist, starred review
"With stunningly lyrical writing, Greeley elevates Austen-inspired fiction." -Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society