I haven’t loved a book this much in a long, long time! I said very similar of the TV show that came out earlier this year, which is what made me want to read the book – both have been outstanding!
The Other Bennet Sister is the story of Mary Bennet, the middle sister in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, who is known to be boring, bookish and plain. This book starts by running in parallel to the original P&P novel, but moves on to life once her sisters are all married, Mr Bennet has died, she and her mother Mrs Bennet have been forced to leave their family home, and she is working out who she is in the world.
This book absolutely tore my heart out for Mary, giving her depth, feeling, and humour. You see the damage that’s been done by her mother, “She had learned from Mrs Bennet with without beauty no real and lasting happiness was attainable. […] Now she thought of little else but the poor impression she must make upon those around her.” There’s a lot of sadness in how she sees herself, “I am not the sort of woman that men fall in love with”, but as the book goes on, she spends time with people who aren’t her immediate family, who love and support her, and of course, a romantic interest “She told herself she would not think about him too often; and for at least a few minutes a day, she was successful in this endeavour,”, she blossoms and grows and gains confidence. It’s a delight.
The opening paragraph really tickled me:
– Famously P&P starts with “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, so the author opens this book with “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 a way, a completely different sentence, but absolutely the same feel.
– It continues, “To be poor and handsome is misfortune enough; but to be penniless and plain is a hard fate indeed.” which had a weird reminiscence of The Importance of Being Earnest’s “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”
The absolute to-do when she gets glasses, while hilariously done, says so much about the difference between expectations of men and women back then (hopefully less so now…), “A man may wear spectacles […] and no one will speak ill of him. For a young woman it is quite a different thing. What do you think people will say when they see Mary in them? Who will want to marry her then?” As a female who grew up with glasses, this didn’t feel unfamiliar at times!
There is some redemption in this book for Mr Collins too, as Mary spends some time with him and Charlotte at Longbourn once they have inherited it from her father, and realises how well she actually gets on with him. so she’s not the only character we’re seeing another side of!
Reading it so soon after watching the TV series, I naturally spent a lot of time thinking about things that had been cut, added, or order changed, but both had the same heart, and none of it bothered me when it was different!
For a flavour of the TV series (available on iPlayer), see the wonderful montage below. (I’m working my way back through it as I write this, and am having a wonderful time!)
ineke.co.uk 