Review: The Other Bennet Sister

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This novel is recommended by its relation to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but I do believe the story suffers for it.

While P&P allowed us to fall in love with love through Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, this novel chooses instead to focus on plain Mary Bennet, who is somewhat neglected by the original.

The first part is a bland retelling of P&P with the focus this time on Mary and the neglect she suffers from being plain and constantly compared to her more beautiful, livelier sisters. The second part is more like a sequel, where the ongoing happiness of Mary's sisters throws her own misery into the spotlight and dowses any hope we had of feeling the same sort of affection we had for the original by sucking all the joy from previously loved characters and not giving us much to love in the new. Then, finally, as the story reaches part three, Mary begins to experience her own unique story, and we are finally afforded the chance to know her as an individual and witness her own growth.

I found it dreary and tedious to begin with, and I think that's mostly because it's attempting to put a new spin on an old favourite and doesn't quite pull it off. I love the idea of this story focusing on the sister we heard so little about in the original, but this story doesn't do her any immediate favours. Instead, we're forced to experience the events we're already familiar with from a much more depressing viewpoint. Mary is constantly beat down by her mother and thinks so little of herself that it's hard not to get frustrated with her. So while you do originally feel a little sympathy for her, it does get tired quite quickly.

The second part doesn't do much better - we see how life is going for Jane, Elizabeth, Charlotte and their families a couple years after the events of P&P, but Mary is still as dull as ever. There's no joy in the glimpse at an unofficial sequel, because we're too busy being weighed down by Mary's fears and loneliness.

However, by the time we come to part three, we finally have the chance to taste an original story - featuring Mary - and it is here where this story begins to come alive. Without the comparisons and the overbearing mother, Mary is finally allowed to experience her own life, make her own choices, meet her own friends, etc., and it's much more refreshing. It's here, in fact, where it most suffers from its attachment to P&P, because Mary's story from here could easily have been a novel in its own right. I would have much preferred an original story with similarities to this attempt at new object of affection within the confines of a world already known and loved.

There is actually a pretty sweet, meaningful story here about living life on your own terms, the battle of head VS heart, and appreciating the little things in life. There's an interesting divergence from P&P with the way it discusses the constraints of 'polite society' during this period and Mary is a fascinating character in the way she both yearns to express herself yet still maintain her place in a society which has treated her cruelly. But just as you begin to appreciate the story there's an unseemly reference to P&P and you're forced to once again confront the fact that this is not even close to the endearing original. It tries so hard to steal that affection that is has the opposite effect - instead, it just reminds us of all the things we're missing. Towards the end, the direct quotes definitely had me cringing.

Yet, Mary's story on its own was quite enjoyable towards the end, and even though there were far too many inconvenient interruptions for my liking, it held together well enough. It was predictable and painful, certainly, but I really feel that if Mary's story had been written completely detached from the world of Pride and Prejudice I would have enjoyed it far more.

Quite ironic that a book that pushes the message of being true to yourself suffers from trying so hard to be like a much loved original.

I suspect some fans of P&P will love any further foray into the lives of the Bennet family, but for me it didn't quite hold the charm I'd hoped for. I think I'd rather just re-read the original.

With thanks to the publisher for a copy

View all my reviews