Reviews * Giveaway
Finding Anne de Bourgh by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
Book Description:
As heiress of Rosings Park, Anne de Bourgh’s health is of utmost importance to her mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Thus, following the shock of a recent fire at Rosings Park, the young woman is spirited away to Brighton to take the cure. While her domineering mother is bent on healing her daughter’s sickly constitution to secure her a suitable match, Anne herself is far more concerned with sketching the flora and fauna of the lovely sea town. It is in pursuit of artistic inspiration among the flowers that Anne becomes acquainted with Mr. Owen Talbot, a charming man with whom Anne feels an immediate connection, notwithstanding their differing stations.
But despite their growing esteem for one another, the couple faces an insurmountable problem: Lady Catherine has set her sights on a rich, well-connected man for her daughter, and Mr. Talbot is simply too common. With their love in jeopardy, the couple soon faces far graver problems. There has been a murder in Brighton, and Anne is innocently drawn into an amateur investigation that ultimately traces its roots to her own family. With a frightening foreshadowing regarding the de Bourghs, Anne begins to question whom she can truly trust.
Andrea's Review:
Finding Anne de Bourgh was an unexpected delight. I avoid reading book descriptions right before starting a book (I don't want too much given away), so I really didn't know what to expect besides a Regency romance. I was pleasantly surprised to get a mystery, and thought it was well done.
The author noted that she is a Jane Austen fan and her intrigue with Anne de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice influenced her to write this novel. I'll admit that I hadn't given a second thought to Anne before this book. Her domineering mother always took the stage (next to the main characters) in Pride and Prejudice, but I enjoyed getting to know Anne in this novel. She definitely didn't fit the mold and much of the book involved her standing up for herself and coming out of her shell. I love the chance the author gave for Anne to shine, and find that it is a good lesson-we all have worth and value.
The Talbot family was very interesting, both with Lady Talbot's past and her hobby of solving murders. That was quite unexpected, especially for someone of her station. The closeness between her and her boys was endearing, and their quick acceptance of Anne showed the good people that they are.
If you've read Regency novels you're probably familiar with people flocking to sea side communities for "the cure" of sea bathing. The idea of having dippers (strong women who "dip" patrons in the sea) is quite foreign, but this is at least the second book I've read that had a focus on dipping, and it is very interesting.
This wasn't a fast read for me, but it was enjoyable. I was very surprised when the the main bad guy was revealed, and enjoyed that it caught me off guard. I would read more from this author.
Rorie's Review:
Never having read Pride and Prejudice, I wasn't familiar at all with the characters and events from that story that were referenced in this story, so I felt a bit lost at times. There were other times when I had to scroll back a few pages or chapters to try and figure out who a person was. I had a really hard time keeping track of all of the different characters in this story.
I had a really hard time connecting with Anne. She was, to put it very bluntly, nothing more than a doormat. She let her mother completely run her life and very rarely stood up for herself. As the story continues, she was able to find a backbone and assert herself more, but it took a really, really long time.
The story didn't really engage me, and I found my mind wandering a lot throughout. Maybe if I was familiar with Pride and Prejudice, I would have enjoyed this story more. The climax of the story was well-written though, and I did enjoy reading that part. Throughout the whole story, I was trying to figure out who the bad guy was. I had a few different people picked out and was happy to find out that I was right with one of them.
Tour Giveaway:
Author: Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
Publisher: Covenant Communications Inc.
Published: May 2019
ISBN: 1524408336
Source: We received copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase: Amazon | Deseret Book
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