The Cover: The blue bottle caught my eye at first. I’m really drawn to the color of blue at present. I do like the flowers in the background and the design gives them a feeling of movement. Really cool.
The Story: While I’m particular about my Austen stories-based books, this one looks mighty interesting! I wonder if it will be as good as the last one, I read? Hmm… Anne has always been at the back of my mind. I will be keeping my eye on what readers get out of this one!
-Stephanie Hopkins
About the Book:
As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh’s doctor prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender 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 or want her.
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 and lethargic? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?
In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, Colonel John Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Yet once she returns to health, new challenges await. Shy and utterly inexperienced, the wealthy heiress must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate a “season” in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman with a keen edge—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 light in Austen’s world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart.
The Cover: Such a beautiful cover! Makes one want to walk down that dirt road amongst the flowers and trees over hanging.
Not only is this a great cover, the series is fantastic! One of my favorites around. This particular format I’m spotlighting today is on audio and available for request for NetGalley Members. -Stephanie Hopkins
I spent a couple Summers with my Grandparents when I was in my teens. I have fond memories of that time I had with them. They had a vegetable garden out back. My Grandmother and I would pick all sorts of veggies, sit on the back porch snapping green beans, and enjoying the outdoors. Often, we would spend time in her quilting room and I loved exploring all the wonderful textiles and vintage thread spools she had collected over the years. My mom told me that blue was my Grandmother’s favorite color. That would explain all the blue fabrics I have from her. This page has a piece of her fabric from her stash I inherited. The memories came flooding back as I adhered the fabric on the background. Cherish the time you have with your family and hold tight to the good memories. -Stephanie Hopkins
The Cover: I’m crazy about the color blue! That is what first caught my attention about this cover. I might have design the cover layout itself a little different to give it a more Gothic feel to it. The cover almost looks Cartoonist to me. Having said that, I love the color, as I said above, the wallpaper, arch way and the clock! The cover has actually inspired me to create an art piece using some influence of the layout.
Layered Pages 