“It is a sad fact of life that if a young woman is unlucky enough to come into the world without expectations, she had better do all she can to ensure she is born beautiful.”
In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, middle Bennet sister Mary is the ugly duckling in a nest of swans; serious and prim, with no apparent redeeming features and seemingly no prospects. The Other Bennet Sister shows another side to the middle Bennet sister: an introvert in a family of extroverts, overlooked by an aloof father, a mother who values beauty above all else, and siblings with whom she has little in common. Is it any wonder then that she retreats into books? One by one, her sisters marry, but Mary seems destined to remain at Longbourn, until the day Mr Bennet dies and the house is inherited by Mr Collins. But when that day comes sooner than expected, Mary slowly discovers that maybe there is hope for her after all.
When it comes to retellings of Pride and Prejudice, there is often the temptation to make Mary Bennet – whether she is the focal point or not – at best the misunderstood nerd or, at worst, something far more progressive than the character could or would realistically be. And whilst there’s nothing wrong with the trope itself or with female historical fiction characters for whom romance is not their chief motivation, but it can be argued that Austen wrote Mary as a subtle jab at the indiscriminate intellect.
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.
Hadlow studied history prior to her career in television, playing an important role in popularising history on TV by making such highly series as Simon Schama’s History of Britain, so it’s no surprise that her knowledge and research is displayed with a deft touch, capturing the essence of the period and making the voice feel accurate rather than pastiche.
The first part of the story encompasses Mary’s early years and, of course, a good portion of the events of Pride and Prejudice, all from Mary’s point of view. This could be in danger of coming across like an extended prologue but it just manages to avoid this by tying it into Mary’s character arc, rather than just simply recounting events from a different point of view, and the fact that it only goes up to a certain point in the original story before continuing with Mary’s. Even so, it’s bit of a slow start.
Slow start aside however, The Other Bennet Sister is definitely one of the better Pride and Prejudice continuations/spinoffs. A very well written debut, for both fans of Jane Austen and Historical fiction in general, that will get you to look at a famous Austen character in a way that you might not have seen her before.
The Other Bennet Sister is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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 The Other Bennet Sister, a debut novel with exactly the affection and authority to satisfy 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.
