Mary B: A Novel: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice

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My hackles were raised with a mention of "Lizzy's bad teeth" however, and every subsequent character who appears - from Darcy's sister to Colonel Fitzwilliam, acts so out of character with what we know of them from Austen that it became so disconnected with her original that I just gave up feeling outraged and was able to enjoy it as a separate piece. Chen doesn’t soft-pedal how challenging Mary’s task is – she’s forced to keep much of her self-possessed spirit hidden. Part 2: this was certainly not Austen… this was more Brontë with its dark reflection and soul shriveling, dejected angst. On 20 June 1917, she claimed to have sunk two U-boats, SM UC-65 and another U-boat and seen a third. There she is given more than a modicum of male attention, something that she has never experienced before.

Was it Orson Welles who said, "If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story"? I would recommend this book to readers that like fiction and historical fiction of this time period. She said goodbye to Jerry and rang back her mum to ask if she "was in trouble" and if her "phone would be taken off" her. If I wasn't coming to this with my background and dare I say it 'prejudiced' attitude to the characters, language and plot, I might really have let myself enjoy the story of Mary.

Darcy’s storied estate, Pemberley, becomes a gilded cage for Elizabeth; Mary’s impetuous sister Lydia, who eloped to London, learns what little support society has for a woman without money or education. But, what we are not going to do is decimate the cornerstone characters of, arguably, the best loved novel in history, so you can turn your “Mary B” into something even she seemed uncomfortable being! Part I of this book is retelling of original Pride and Prejudice from perspective of Mary who hardly had any voice in the original story.

Even compared to her frivolous younger siblings, Kitty and Lydia, Mary knows she is lacking in the ways that matter for single, not-so-well-to-do women in nineteenth-century England who must secure their futures through the finding of a husband. It reminds me of stories where D is portrayed with more accuracy in regards to his treatment of women, servants, etc.It wasn't out of character for her to take that walk to get home, it was a shortcut for her to get home. She’s no orphan having books thrown at her, sent to a horrible school, fed burnt porridge and obliged to earn her living as a governess. I was looking forward to reading this, I like stories about the other Bennet girls and what could of happen to them.