The Other Bennet Sister

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This is a fantastic re-telling of a classic novel and its characters, reforming our view of Mary Bennet, and elevating her into a heroine in her own right. Mary’s emergence into a woman of intelligence and self-assuredness is delightful to read. Hadlow maintains the style and feel of the period, creating a wonderful sense of time and place. My reading of Pride and Prejudice will be forever transformed after reading this novel. A must for fans of Jane Austen, as well as for those who love novels that feature strong intelligent heroines of any periods

Shortly after Jane and Lizzy are each married, Mr. Bennet dies and Mary gets a taste of what her life could be like if she were an old maid. She bounces between her sisters’ estates and Longburn — now owned by Mr. Collins — and observes a wide variety of relationships as seen by different family units. But after Mr. Collins encourages her to take up studying again, Mary seems to become herself but with someone’s support. This is one of the first steps that Mary seems to grow in self-confidence; the next is when she decides not to take up Lady Catherine’s offer of her being a governess and instead Mary leaves for London.The Other Bennet Sister goes beyond Pride and Prejudice to imagine how the Marys of the world might find happiness . . . A captivating and heartening story.”

In short, Mary is miserable and is willing to try anything even securing the interest of the bumbling and bothersome cousin Collins who has come to Longbourn in search of a wife. If she thought her homelife was misery, being overlooked by Mr. Collins even after she put her best foot forward and made a horrid spectacle of herself at the Netherfield Ball teaches her that being invisible is even worse.

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Television producer Janice Hadlow’s debut novel, The Other Bennet Sister, avoids both of these traps. Her Mary is a psychologically rich and astute creation. An observant child who notices that she doesn’t measure up her Mother’s standards and that she isn’t either of her parents’ favourite. She also recognises, to a certain extent, that these standards are impossible – like Lizzie, she understands her parents’ characters and sees that they are the root of their unequal marriage – but at the same time she tries to live up to them, causing her to adjust her behaviour and the way she sees herself, after all, what child doesn’t want their parents’ approval? So, not unlike an Austen heroine, Mary’s journey is one of journey of self-actualisation, towards self-esteem and self-worth, not just towards love.