SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW
I probably would have liked The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow much more if I had not read the inside jacket cover before beginning the book. According to the blurb, title character Mary Bennet's journey "transports readers into the bustling heart of pre-industrial London, with its cluttered storefronts and air of self-made aspiration. And though the story does include a great love, Mary must decide not only whether he is truly the one for her, but also whether domestic life is the path she wants to pursue at all."
Unfortunately, that blurb is fan fiction of The Other Bennet Sister, which is itself fan fiction of Pride and Prejudice.
The book tells the story of Mary Bennet, the annoying, didactic middle sister of the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice. The first half of the The Other Bennet Sister follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice from Mary's point of view, giving her a back story as an unloved awkward teen. In an effort to learn how to fit better into her family and society, she seeks to educate herself. Thwarted by both her parents who see no point in providing a tutor or even guidance for her, she begins to read books that belong to her father. Her progress is remarkable; she clearly has a brilliant mind. But books can't teach her social niceties, and she continues to blunder.
The second half of The Other Bennet Sister takes place after the action of Pride and Prejudice. Mary is now a spinster, forced to be a perpetual unwanted houseguest of her sisters Lizzie and Jane. She finally flees to Lizzie's friend Charlotte, who you will recall from Pride and Prejudice is married to Mr. Collins, the obsequious minister who had courted Lizzie. Although Mr. Collins had never considered Mary as a potential spouse even when he wanted to marry a Bennet sister, they find common ground in their loneliness, and Mr. Collins is the first person to provide Mary with any intellectual guidance. Although they are merely friends, Mary is a threat to Charlotte and she is forced to move on.
Mary lands at the house of her uncle and aunt, who Lizzie had traveled with in Pride and Prejudice. From here on out, the book is merely a romance. Much as one can criticize Little Women for espousing a psuedo-feminism where even the most independent-minded women are made truly complete only by marrying (which is text rather than subtext in Pride and Prejudice), Mary's intellectual pursuits are now reduced to love interest Tom teaching her to enjoy poetry. There's a bit of will they or won't they, but not much. Obviously they will. Contrary to the book jacket blurb, there is never any question that domestic life is the path that Mary wants to pursue, and the book ends with her happily interior decorating. She no longer desires to learn Greek (which Mr. Collins had begun to teach her) or to make a serious study of philosophy. Her world at the end of the book is just as small as it had been at the beginning.
Final note: If you are a fan of rewritings of classics from the point of view of a minor character, I highly, highly recommend James by Percival Everett, a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim.
Note from Jasmine Gold: As the name of this blog indicates, I write erotica. Check out my dark, dystopian novel about naked sex slaves, Mindgames. Your darkest fantasies, with a phenomenal plot and characters you will come to think of as beloved friends. Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited and in paperback. Or read my book of short stories about hot, consensual sex, The Mature Woman's Guide to Desire, available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
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