All About The Other Bennet Sister 

Mary Bennet is one of my favorite characters. I think that many of us can relate to her; I certainly can.

Nice job and fairly assessed. I read the book a few months back, then handed it to my spouse (the whole family loves JA); she read it in a few weeks. I mostly agree with your comments. It's too long, and it drags in places, but how many novelists have the natural talent to strike the proper pace? Reread "Persuasion" and you really appreciate how tight that book is, which is even more amazing when you consider JA's health. P&P is a natural page turner as well. Hadlow obviously put much time and effort into dissecting P&P and thinking about the motives of the people she wanted to further explore. The section describing Mary's visit to the the Collins family is, as you say, worth the price of admission. Other commentors have wondered about Hadlow's presentation of Mrs. Bennet and Charlotte, but I am with her. Mrs. Bennet comes across as the shallow, unfeeling, selfish, mean-spirited woman I've always considered her. Charlotte becomes more human, and I think I understand her final thoughts on Mary. Caroline Bingley? Just what can you say about her? Mrs. Gardiner, of course, IS the fairy godmother of this tale. The scenes in London were especially fascinating because JA rarely goes there. Hadlow, from working at the BBC (I think), obviously knows London and its history. And besides the length, my other serious complaint was I found the two male leads (invented) a bit card-boardy. Any time I find one gender with a real gift of presenting their opposite in believable fashion, I marvel. That's why Dickens, Hardy, Willa Cather, and Tolstoy are so high on my list. The appearance of Hadlow's guys were contrasted to create tensions, and perhaps guys like this would have acted as they did in the novel. You found them believable and well rounded, so enough on that.. We must accept the fact, of course, that Mrs. Gardiner was able to bring Mary out of her shell, yet there was enough good material there all along to make the transition believable. JA's version is canon, but I like Hadlow's re-invention. At the end, I was really rooting for Mary and was suitably moved. Mary became My Favorite Bennet sister.

I want to mention at least one instance of clear divergience from P&P: It is claimed that Lizzie's reaction to Charlotte's engagement to Mr. Collin's results in a permanent cooling of the friendship between the two. But, in P&P, Lizzie's stay with the Collinses contradicts that assertion; the two get along as well as they ever have. I also think that Charlotte's intervention in Mary's flirtation with John Sparrow is entirely foreign to Charlotte's character as it appears in P&P.

I've just finished reading it and really enjoyed it. It is very true to Jane Austen and develops a character whom I never thought I would like so much. It is very interesting to follow Mary's evolution from the dull young woman portrayed in P&P to the confident and lovely character she becomes with (and thanks to) the Gardiners. The ending is predictable but it also made my very happy. I look forward to your video on this year's Jane Austen adaptations!

Yess I’ve read it I loved it!! I didn’t see it lagging in the middle portion though, I thought that focusing on her development and her relationship with her aunt and the the relationships that were happening made her that much more realistic, and frustrating. It made me root for her that much more. I also liked how the beginning although was parallel to pride and prejudice- it didn’t feel like a recap. I wasn’t bogs down with the same information somethings were not emphasized because the character we were following I wasn’t interested in it. There’s a lot of great things that happened in this book and I would also recommend it to everyone! I read it last month and I’m ready to read it again!

I love it. It's not long enough!

I listened to the audio book and loved it. I haven't read P&P (though I've seen a few adaptations) as I didn't feel I could relate to Lizzie at all. I love Mary now & this book surpassed all I dared hope for from it. I love the explorations of Romanticism and Rationalism too.

Your review only makes me more excited to pick this up! I've been trying to wait until Jane Austen July to read it but I just don't know if I'll make it that long. Will you be picking up the Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner? Not a retelling but a very charming historical fiction about saving her house in Chawton! I think you'll really enjoy that too.

I am reading it now and halfway through. I am loving it!

Brilliant review! I'm dying to read this book!

I read this a few months ago. I am delighted to hear that others have read it! I even left a re view on Amazon since I read it on kindle.

Thank you for sharing this interesting review!

I was always interested in Mary and Kitty’s characters. Great recommendation! Thank uku

Just subscribed!! You are delightful to listen to. I hope to read this book soon. Thank you for a thoughtful review.

I just finished this book a couple days ago and loved it. I agree, at times, it could have used a bit of editing in some places (some of it really felt like continual recap) but overall I enjoyed the writing and seeing how the characters were brought to life beyond P&P.

I just ordered it thanks to you!

I read it this year, for my first time joining in on Jane Austen July, and I loved it. Mary is now one of my favorite characters that I have read about this year. I agree it could have been trimmed down, because P&P wasn't even that long, but still one of my favorites of the year so far.

Highly Recommend. Excellent character development.

I love this book so much. I’m reading pride and prejudice next month so it will be interesting doing it in the wrong order. Loved it so much and I loved marys character so much 🥰 Oh I need to find miss Austen 😊

I was lucky enough to be sent a finished copy by the publishers. I have it on my immediate TBR. I feel it’s the perfect summer read ☺️🌿🌻🖤

Thank you for this perceptive and well thought out review! I really must read this one soon. Have you and Katie thought about doing a readalong of it during Jane Austen July? I would totally be down for that!

My mom and we're watching the Pride and Prejudice BBC miniseries last summer. After we finished it I wondered if anyone had written anything about Mary Bennet. I went on to Audible and I found The Other Bennett Sister and used my monthly credit to add it to my library. I haven't listened to it yet. But after seeing this video I'm going to make it my next listen. 😁

Mary B is another mary bennet retold of story. it was published back in 1992. and it goes back and forth of mary telling of pride and prejudice throughout the book.but also has parts in it of mary writing a novel. very good book to read. it is done by chen. first name i forgot. lol

Thanks for your review! Very interesting! I just ordered it - but in German and I that's why I have to wait until January to get it. 😑

I’m really excited to read this book for Jane Austen July. I read Mary B. last year and it was so disappointing I need another Mary Bennet tale to recover from that.

now i want to read pride&prejudice and this book too i only watched the movie and i liked mary and wanted to know more about her

Just finished the book last week and found your discussion of the book. Very perceptive comments, Marissa--Hadlow does accomplish quite a bit in this book. However, I have to say that for the first third of the book, I had to push myself to finish. Mary just seemed too depressing, with everything and everyone against her. (Even Fanny Price had William & Edmund!) However, once the Gardiners entered the story, I felt a change in the book and a change in my attitude towards Mary, and I did race to the end. I loved the way she wrote in Austen's style, but you are right that it needed editing--I could have lopped & cropped ~100 pages! Also, I feel a need to re-read P&P again--I don't recall Mrs Bennet being so overtly mean-spirited; certainly she's silly and annoying, but this portrayal was very bitter. Nor did I ever perceive Charlotte as so conniving. Pragmatic, yes, but here she's almost plotting her path forward. Did love the Gardiners and the new characters, as you mentioned. Thanks for your insights--brought out many things that I would have overlooked.

I'm thinking of getting this book ? shall I ? shall I get miss austentoo? x

I recommend "Fitzwilliam Darcy in his own words", by Shannon Winslow. It fills in the gaps when he is not active in P&P. He almost marries someone else, not Miss Bingley.😉

Sounds like an interesting book! This might be a weird question, but is The Other Bennet Sister a family-friendly book?

I just finished this and found it both boring and annoying. It was about 200 pages too long