The Other Bennet Sister

I'm reviewing published Jane Austen fanfiction and I don't even care. Time to cash in on that Bridgeton period drama momentum. 

I was incredibly wary of The Other Bennet Sister [Janice Hadlow] for several reasons. Firstly, because a title that derivative doesn't give one a great deal of hope for the originality of the premise (and let's face it, 'what happened to Mary Bennet?' is already the most cliché premise in Jane Austen fandom.)

Secondly, the cover was a carbon copy of Longbourn [Jo Baker] which isn't just the worst Jane Austen themed book I've read, but one of the worst books I've read overall. 

Still, an author can't help how their work is marketed, and when a BookTuber claimed this was one of their best reads of 2023, I was prepared to give it a chance. 

And, dammit, it's really good. 

The Other Bennet Sister is the story of Mary Bennet: the plain, annoyingly moral middle-child whose bad singing at the Netherfield Ball is one of the most cringeworthy moments in all literature. She is the plainest of an unusually pretty bunch of sisters, and her parents' least favourite child by a long stretch. When her teenage interest in a young tradesman is brutally dismissed by her mother, she retreats into her own world, cutting herself off from the friendship of her older sisters. 

The book more or less skips over the events of Pride and Prejudice, with only the Netherfield Ball and Mr. Collins' introduction - both big canonical moments for Mary - getting much coverage. We then skip several years forward to the early death of Mr. Bennet, where Mary is now a drag on the hospitality of her older sisters and easy prey for Miss. Bingley's sniping. She returns to her family home, where the Collinses are now settled, but her earnest friendship with an equally unhappy Mr. Collins puts her in Charlotte's bad books. Eventually the ever-awesome Gardiners take her under their wing, and she finds herself trapped between uncertain true-love and an offer from someone wealthy and handsome enough to satisfy her whole family. 

To my surprise, this book was more of a character study than a romance. We don't even meet the romantic hopefuls until the second half of the book, at which point Mary has already undergone a lot of character (and fashion) growth. 

That growth is earned too. The book doesn't do the expected thing of making Mary secretly awesome and misunderstood all along. Instead she's the natural result of a very isolated and constantly belittled young woman seeking any solace she can find. The influence of the few allies (or hoped-for allies) she has are therefore oversized or misconstrued. Elizabeth is bewildered by her in the way someone with a gift for people can be by a lonely person. Charlotte's advice is the warning of an older, more cynical, and more desperate woman. Even Mr. Collins' intellectual interest in her is paternal, and borne of his own misery. All of them push her into a box and try to close the lid on her.

Mary's character is a delicately written thing, which sits neatly in the sphere of her older sisters. She has Elizabeth's intellect, but more zeal than wit, and she has Jane's desire to help her family but none of her grace or opportunities. She has less social freedom than her siblings, but more intellectual freedom, leading - in time - to a quiet sort of radicalism. By the last third of the book she is as enchanting as any other Austen heroine. 

The romance is delightful (and exciting enough I literally spent the last few chapters chewing on a cushion with tension) but it's really just the vehicle for Mary to decide who she wants to be - the family pleaser or her own woman. I don't really recall the particulars of her suitors, except that one was obviously the good one and one was obviously a rake. 

This works as a Pride and Prejudice spinoff because it doesn't try to re-write or reinterpret the story we know. Instead it posits Mary as a natural successor to Elizabeth, if only she is given a little time and attention. This book is definitely worth both. 

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