The Other Bennet Sister
A Novel
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4.2 • 156 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A NPR CONCIERGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"Jane fans rejoice! . . . Exceptional storytelling and a true delight." —Helen Simonson, author of the New York Times bestselling novels Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War
Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own.
What if Mary Bennet’s life took a different path from that laid out for her in Pride and Prejudice? What if the frustrated intellectual of the Bennet family, the marginalized middle daughter, the plain girl who takes refuge in her books, eventually found the fulfillment enjoyed by her prettier, more confident sisters? This is the plot of Janice Hadlow's The Other Bennet Sister, a debut novel with exactly the affection and authority to satisfy Jane Austen fans.
Ultimately, Mary’s journey is like that taken by every Austen heroine. She learns that she can only expect joy when she has accepted who she really is. She must throw off the false expectations and wrong ideas that have combined to obscure her true nature and prevented her from what makes her happy. Only when she undergoes this evolution does she have a chance at finding fulfillment; only then does she have the clarity to recognize her partner when he presents himself—and only at that moment is she genuinely worthy of love.
Mary’s destiny diverges from that of her sisters. It does not involve broad acres or landed gentry. But it does include a man; and, as in all Austen novels, Mary must decide whether he is the truly the one for her. In The Other Bennet Sister, Mary is a fully rounded character—complex, conflicted, and often uncertain; but also vulnerable, supremely sympathetic, and ultimately the protagonist of an uncommonly satisfying debut novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mary Bennet, the overlooked and unlikable fifth sister in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, learns to see herself and others clearly in Hadlow's spectacular debut novel (after A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of George III). Born without the beauty her mother prizes or the wit needed to win her father's attention, Mary takes refuge in books and study. By the time her sisters marry and her father dies, Mary's self-esteem, optimism, and trust in others have vanished. Then a happy stay with her aunt and uncle Gardiner in London offers a new perspective, suggesting that she must value herself in order to be valued by others. Naturally for an Austen-inspired novel, with self-awareness comes the possibility of true love. Writing in prose with the crisp liveliness of Austen's own, Hadlow remains true to the characterizations in Pride and Prejudice without letting them limit her. Mary's emergence from priggish insecurity is beautifully imagined; Austen's smarmy Mr. Collins gets a surprising but convincing rehabilitation, the Gardiners are joyously fleshed out, and London, never visited in the Austen canon, comes vividly to life. Equal to the best Austen spin-offs, including Jo Baker's Longbourn, this will delight Janeites as well as lovers of nuanced female coming-of-age tales.
Customer Reviews
The other Bennett sister
Slow start, but well worth the effort.
The Other Bennet Sister becomes a new friend
One of my favorite books now. Deep characterization. A delight.
A Rare Treat!
Turning the classic on its head, this book “sees” Mary, the middle Bennett daughter, as a fully formed human who worries, loves, angers and finds amusement far beyond how she was initially described. I love how Hadlow creates a deeper backstory for her and a cast of characters who support (or not!) and round out a woman who had some short shrift in P&P. Lovely.