Mary Bennett begins her story with, "A child does not grow up with the knowledge that she is plain or dull or a complete simpleton until the accident of some event should reveal these unfortunate truths," later adding "It was therefore acknowledged" that all beauty and goodness and intelligence had been given to Jane and Lizzie, while Kitty and Lydia had ignorance, and Mary herself plainness.

The child Mary saw her future as an old maid, dependent on the charity of her married sisters, unloved and lonely, living in the shadows of life.

In Mary B, author Katherine J. Chen often mirrors some of Jane Austen's most well-known epigrams and she uses the characters from Pride and Prejudice, but reader beware: this is not Jane Austen's Bennett family.

And that's alright with me. As much as I love Austen--and my adoration goes back 40 years--I enjoyed Mary B on its own merits.

Society finds Mary a boring, untalented, and an ugly object of derision, expanding on Austen's comic scene where Mr. Bennett stops Mary's public entertainment. I felt the instances of people bullying and denigrating Mary were too frequent at the beginning.

Jane and Bingley barely figure in this retelling, but Lizzie and Darcy are key characters. Just as Cassandra and Jane Austen spent time at the home their brother Edward Austen Knight, Mary spends months with Lizzie after her marriage to Darcy.

I thought the idea of Lizzie being a slob hilarious. She does, after all, walk through the dirt and rain to see Jane when she became ill while visiting the Bingleys. She had lack of pride and vanity in that scene, sisterly love more important than making an impression. In Chen's imagination, Lizzie is just a slob strewing clothes and jewels across the floor of her room.

Chen gives Lydia and Lizzie endings that will offend some Austenites. The married Lydia and Lizzie both become examples of the real world evils left out of Austen: Sexual relations = pregnancy = potential for maternal illness and death and/or the death of the baby. Lydia's ending is actually quite probable.

At times we see a hint of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in the action, particularly in scenes between Mary and Col. Fitzwilliam.

We--as well as several menfolk in the novel-- discover that Mary is observant, thoughtful, and creative. Several men confide in her and we learn their back stories. She is a voracious reader and writes to entertain herself.

Mary relates a life that is fuller than she could have imagined as a child. She has loved three times. She has a fulfilling sexual romance. And she finds a way to be independent. Her story becomes a Feminist bildungsroman.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

While there are a lot of Pride and Prejudice retellings and sequels, few give Mary Bennet a voice, and for that reason Mary B was a must read for me.. I really enjoyed Part One, which covers some events from Pride and Prejudice as seen through Mary's eyes without retelling the whole novel. In P&P we all sense that Mary really would be the perfect match for Mr. Collins and in this narrative, Mary reveals her attraction to Mr. Collins and her interactions with him behind the scenes. Also we find out what precipitated her memorable performance at the Netherfield Ball. And we get a look at Mary's first impressions of Darcy.

As much as I loved Part One however, I was disappointed in the rest of the novel; after Elizabeth and Darcy marry. After that point, for the most part, the characters no longer seemed to be true to the essence of those Austen created. I found it hard to accept their actions in keeping to the spirit of Austen. There was no witty, humorous, dialogue. And there were more intimate details given than I needed to know. But, I did like that Mary was an authoress and voiced her independence.

Setting the plot aside, I thought the author was very talented. She artfully allowed Mary to mature as the narrative progressed.. In Part One, Mary is quite naïve, but by the end she speaks with self assurance, which is satisfying. The whole idea of an Austen sequel is to allow the author to explore the roads not taken or to peer into the "happily ever after" as they see fit, and the author definitely put a new spin on these characters, However, as an Austenite, I'm happiest when character portrayals are true to Jane's creation.

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite novels and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the characters and events as retold in this novel from the perspective of the middle Bennet sister, the eponymous Mary B. Mary reveals herself to be a clever, witty young woman, full of feelings and emotions hidden behind a somewhat severe and uncaring facade. As the novel progresses beyond the events of the original Pride and Prejudice, certain people are able to break through the barriers Mary has erected around herself with surprising outcomes. Readers familiar with Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will not be disappointed. Highly recommended. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

Unfortunately, I do not think this book was for me, and I had to DNF it, although I hate to do so. I love the premise, but do feel that the author pigeon-holed herself in that this should appeal to fans of the original novel, but is actually quite antagonistic towards it (and almost every single non-Mary character).
This is an appealing idea, and I do believe the author has talent, but perhaps should this concept be revisited, it would be within the author's best interest to not alienate people who love the original book and its characters as they are here bowlderized to make Mary seem better in comparison (which isn't necessarily something you need to do! Lizzy doesn't have to be a bitch to Mary for us to like Mary!),
Maybe next time, but this particular offering rubbed me the wrong way.

I loved Pride and Prejudice and yes, I loved this book too. It seems a lot of people are disappointed in Chen's tale of Mary, the middle sister- and for a wide variety of reasons. Get over it. This is Mary's story and it's her perspective. Yes Lizzie comes off differently than she does in P&P and yes Mary is a drag at times but this is Mary's tale. Chen did a good job, I think, of matching the tone and language of the original but it's Chen's book, not Austen's so it doesn't have to be exact- and I imagine that would irritate some P&P fans as well. Read this for.the story of the daughter no one pays attention to, who has a huge imagination, and a great desire for love which is all too often thwarted. People are unkind to her and I, for one, felt very sympathetic to her. There's a scene I found most affecting involving Marmalade, the horse. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Read this with an open mind- Chen isn't Austen but she's a great story teller and I enjoyed this immensely.

I had high expectations but the characters were so different from the original. It would have worked if it was a retelling, but this book is set in the same time as Pride and Prejudice. All Bennett sisters are shown in poor light to make Mary seem more sympathetic and I didn’t enjoy that turn of the story. The writing is also not very realistic for the Victorian era.

*I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*

I have always been a huge fan of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice has long been my favorite of Austen's works, so when I saw this title on NetGalley, I was rather excited to dive into it. I generally really like retellings of classic stories from one of the side character's perspectives. Getting to hear from Mary Bennet seemed like it would be an interesting and entertaining take on one of my favorite novels.

I will say that, being that this is Chen's first novel, I felt that it was very well written. I felt like she attempted, and achieved, writing in a similar style to Austen. This definitely helped me to feel re-immersed into the world of the Bennet family. I was thoroughly entertained by the entire novel, and was able to finish it in speedy fashion, which is generally a good sign in a novel.

I was a fan of the first section of the book, which deals with the part of the original novel where Mr. Collins comes to visit Longbourn. It has been a long held theory amongst 'Janeites' that Mary, umm, shall we say, 'had a thing' for Mr. Collins, and Chen thoroughly explores this possibility. I was having such a good time with the novel during the first part of the book because I felt like I had been dropped right back into this world that I loved, and was seeing it from a different perspective.

After this first part of the novel is where my problem with the story set in. The remainder of the book takes place after Jane and Elizabeth are each married off to Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, respectively. Mary goes to Pemberley to stay with Lizzie and Darcy for several months...and here is where things start to go awry.

I am all for having a creative idea for how things might have turned out for these characters after Pride and Prejudice ended, but not to the detriment of the characters themselves. I felt that Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgiana Darcy, and even Mary Bennet were portrayed in such a way that they would never have actually behaved, given the very fully fleshed-out characters that Austen wrote in her original story. This bothered me immensely, and had me crying out, "They would never do that!!" over and over again. Taking well-loved characters and having them behave completely contrary to how they ever have behaved in the past was just not a great move, in my opinion.

Since these extreme character choices affected my view of the greater portion of the novel, it left me feeling disappointed and dissatisfied. This book had such potential to be a really great story, given that it was very well written and had a great opening section. However, it ended up falling flat for me.



My Rating:
3.0/5.0

I gave Mary B 3 STARS. It was well written and had a strong opening section, but the decision to make a complete departure from how the original characters would behave was highly frustrating for me.

I love reading a story from the point of view of someone that's considered to be a wallflower and someone meant to blend in without being seen. I love Mary's strong character and her determination to pursue an independent life of her own. I was immersed in her story from the very first page until the last so most definitely pick up this charmer of a book and you will easily find yourself cheering for Mary too. Happy reading!

From a very young age Mary Bennet realised that she was of no consequence to her family. She would never make a match that could save her family, that was for Jane. In this variation and sequel we read of events from Mary's point of view, her view of her relations which have been coloured by her perception of her worth.
I really enjoyed this, it is a wonderful change to actually read about the flaws of the main characters from P&P, which can then send them in a different direction.
This is not canon it is a variation, and if you want to read variations that are not centred on Darcy and Elizabeth read this.

Retellings or 'untold stories' of classic and beloved books are always risky. They can go into avenues that the original author could not follow, they can be spicy or modern. They can explore from the point of view of servants or secondary characters. They can allow readers to revisit and enjoy the same world they loved in the original. Or they can fall completely flat. Sadly, this was the case for me with Katherine J. Chen's Mary B. The story of the Bennets from the point of view of Mary, the middle daughter, could have been a wonderful exploration of the world of Longbourne from the point of view of a plain and generally overlooked, quiet, middle daughter. It could have been a story of how a woman in Regency England chooses an independent life as a scholar or writer over marriage and fortune. Or it could have followed the idea that Jane Austen herself described in a letter, where Mary marries quietly and enjoys a life of respectable society.

Instead, Chen seems determined to depress the reader and destroy everything they loved about the characters in Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Chen doesn't retell the entire Austen original from Mary's point of view (which is probably a good thing) but glosses over that to focus on what happens in her mind after P&P ends. Mary discovers her imagination can take her to new and improbable worlds through writing, and if this had been Chen's focus- maybe Mary becomes the next Mrs. Radcliffe- the book could have been enjoyable. But the focus seems to be on making everyone miserable. No characters are given the happiness we hoped for, including Mary. Characters become their complete opposites. Mary's life seems focused on misery and poor choices. When Mary falls in love with first one and then another man unlikely or unable to marry her, it seems to be based mostly on being grateful for a modicum of attention (not always positive attention) than genuine depth of emotion. Chen's writing alternates between mimicking or copying Austen's and then having her characters say things in completely modern language. Her characters are mostly shallow and completely unlikeable.

As a book clearly intended to appeal to people who loved the original Pride and Prejudice, Chen's Mary B. has little to no chance of charming that audience. For readers who have not read Austen's novel, Mary B.'s depressing mood has little likelihood of endearing it to a new audience. I was frequently tempted to put the book down, but kept at it on the hope that things would turn around, characters would become likable, if not become more like their original inspiration, and readers would get the happy ending they wanted. None of that happens and a novel that could have become a triumphant exploration of female independence remained one that I wouldn't recommend to anyone, and wish I could unread. The first book in a long time I've read and had no choice but to give a "0" books ("so bad I can't even") rating, with no redeeming features whatsoever. This is one "untold story" that, in my opinion, should have remained untold.

Oh, this is a hard book for me to review and even more challenging to rate. I moved from 2 stars to closer to 4 stars and then down to 1 when the author ruined it all for me. And I can’t even go into details about that without spoiling it for those who haven’t read it. So this might be a short and vague review. My apologies in advance.
When I received an email from NetGalley alerting me of a new book centering on Mary Bennet, I was intrigued. I like Austen literature in many of its forms. Specifically, I’ve always felt for Mary in that chaotic household, overshadowed by her lovely older sisters and overwhelmed by her vivacious younger sisters. This novel starts just before Pride & Prejudiuce does, extends itself through that timeline from Mary’s perspective, and wraps up several years after P&P ends.
The story started slow. Mary’s narration started out very cerebral and pedantic. However, as I got used to the style and realized in reflection that is probably how Mary was. So I warmed up to it and really enjoyed the middle section of the book. I enjoyed seeing the other characters from Mary’s perspective and get some additional behind the scenes. I even really liked the beginning of the time after the original story line. But then, due to one plot decision, I hated it. Passionately and thoroughly. Read it. I’m sure you’ll know exactly when my change of heart happened.
So I’m settling on 1.5 stars rounded to 2. Some might enjoy the plot twist that I abhor.
Trigger warning: Sex, not super graphic but present.
Thanks to Random House via NetGalley for the ARC.

If you would like to read more of my reviews, you can visit mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com

Fans may find themselves outraged... it's a fascinating reimagining but not one I agreed with.

I'm definitely a devotee - Pride and Prejudice is my favourite books, I've read it many times, seen multiple adaptations, read many books on the author, visited her home, identified with her heroine and even written essays about the source novel. I've also read other works inspired by Austen's masterpiece of manners, for both teens and adults, and tried to keep an open mind.

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. If I could let go of the perfection of the central relationship, the 'happy ever after' and ideal partnership it enshrines, I might be able to let myself consider Chen's alternative a possibility. But of course, I can't.

Split into two halves, we are treated to Austen through Mary's eyes - and Part One, I appreciated, as an insight into well-beloved Bennetts, balls and beaus - though as soon as I saw Mary and Darcy speaking to each other I could feel my rancour rising. The sections with Mr Collins I DID think worthy, as I often felt they would have made a good match and wondered why this was not advanced. But again, Collins' 'confession' and history, as related to Mary (quite suddenly and without much build-up) didn't feel true-to-character. Either he's a sycophant or he's a bumbling fool - he can't really be both.

It is Mr Collins himself who offers Mary some good life advice, would you believe:
"One should never settle in life for what others may think is best and right for you. There is always the larger and more delicious fruit hanging from a higher branch... if someone would only lend you the ladder to reach it. And the ladder is what will make all the difference."

Part One contains the story we know, it is then left and we wonder - just where will the next part take Mary? It is into the unknown of the P&P universe.

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. I wouldn't have thought I could. Though whole scenes, acts and speeches once given to Elizabeth are now replayed in a new context with Mary.

I still do not agree with how Chen gives voice and thought to any character - and often their language and actions are incredibly anachronistic for their period. It was interesting to see the destinies Chen chose to envision for Lydia, for the Collinses, for the Darcys - I will not say anything more - but for anyone who loves Austen, it is a reach.

Note - there is some fairly strong and unexpected sexual content, VERY out of keeping with Jane Austen, though amusing to a modern audience. This would make it less suitable for a younger teenager who may have studied Austen and be reading around the author.

One aspect that amused me throughout was the book Mary finds herself becoming engaged in writing, her novel is very (unwittingly?) funny in its ridiculousness.

Mary herself is entirely a young woman unchained from the confines of Austen. I had to give up feeling affronted and just give in to the Jane Eyre-like, romance-rooted, independent-and-spirited Lizzy-like sister who takes her character but refuses to live her life.

This is going to polarise, though readers who come to this with no real love for or knowledge of Austen will probably have no problem with the liberties taken. For fans, it could finish them off!

Kudos to the author for braving the forthcoming indignations, but I'm afraid for me, it stole from one Peter to pay Paul (read for this Lizzy and Mary) and as someone familiar with every character, did not ring true for any.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy.

I am a Janeite and P&P fan. That being said, I am not a purist. I like to see how a fantastic novel can be reimagined and reinterpreted. I don't want an author to write from Jane's voice. I like when they use their own voice. Sometimes it's done really well and sometimes it's not. I found this interpretation very intriguing. Mary Bennett is certainly a lesser known character so she's been ripe for her own book written from her own perspective.

What I appreciated is that the author didn't give us a full blown retelling of P&P. I've read enough of those. This novel jumped from scenes from P&P to the "future" when the fates of the characters are unknown. I really enjoyed the author's ideas of where each character ended up. It was a very interesting turn of events that took some favorite characters and made them very changed.

Many P&P fans are going to hate this. That's why this book is getting poor reviews on Goodreads. I was a little uncomfortable with it myself because these characters are so loved. However, it was fun to think of them as grown and very changed. It can happen.

I gave the book 3 stars rather than 4 because I tired of Mary's constant woe is me inner monologue. I get that it's certainly a strong aspect of her character, but there was a ton of it. A ton. I also found some of the romance a little trite. For such an original overall idea, it could have been better executed.

This book was not for me. I did not think that the characters stayed true to the characters in the original story in any way. I actually wonder if this is supposed to be satire aimed at the “Pride and Prejudice” genre. I’m honestly still not sure. I’m so tempted to give away spoilers here, but I won’t. If you love Pride and Prejudice, skip this one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I imagine it’s difficult to write a book connected to such a classic as Pride and Prejudice. When I starting reading Mary B, I thought I could overlook some changes to the plot of the original, but I guess I was more attached than I thought. I didn’t believe the Bennet sisters from this book could be the same women. It seemed like the only character with somewhat likable qualities was Mary, and the dissolving of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage just isn’t believable. This book could have been decent if it was a stand alone but not as an extension (or retelling) of Pride and Prejudice.

I love the premise of this Pride and Prejudice variation - a chance to experience the inner life of Mary, the often overlooked and derided sister. It was, however, imperfect in its execution. Overall, I enjoyed the story. There were whole sections that seemed tremendously unrealistic - Mary and other characters interacted in surprising and unexpected ways, often feeling very out of character. More than once, I wanted to give Mary a good shake; however, she redeemed herself in the end.
Mary B is definitely a fresh look at the Pride and Prejudice universe, and an opportunity to get to know Mary Bennet.

It seems that revisionist literature is trending these days. In Katherine J. Chen’s Mary B, she revisits Pride and Prejudice and rewrites the story with emphasis on the middle sister, Mary. Pride and Prejudice was representative of the time in writing style and was an uplifting story that presented us with one of the most eligible bachelors’ in literature, Mr. Darcy.
“Jane Austen's most beloved hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is by no means perfect. He does, however, possess the ability to learn from his mistakes and to admit when he is wrong, however, which makes him pretty close to perfection.”
---theodysseyonline.com
With Mary B, Chen has erased the uplifting quality that made Pride and Prejudice so enduring: this book is a downer. Why you ask? Well for starters:
*Mary suffers from the proverbial middle child syndrome. As the third of 5 girls, she is particularly ignored. Her older sisters Jane (the beauty) and Lizzy (the ebullient one) overshadow her, and the two younger sisters are silly and immature, much like their mother. So poor uninteresting plain Mary is overlooked by everyone. By the end of the book, I too wanted to overlook her as she bored me to tears.
*Mary spends all her energy trying to gain attention, from chasing suitors to hogging the scene at the piano. None of these endeavors prove fruitful, but she does not see how embarrassing her behavior is. What she lacks in talent and social graces are more than made up for in chutzpah.
*The men in this book are marginalized at every turn. There is not a strong man in the bunch. What Katherine Chen did to poor Mr. Darcy is literary emasculation.
To give her credit, Chen may have written a book representative of the writing style of THIS time, where women are stepping out and making a way for themselves. This Mary was not a great representative of the modern woman however, as she was deviously self-absorbed and unprincipled. She was certainly not one that I would want in my inner circle.
As for revisionist literature, I think it probably makes a great assignment for a creative writing course. It would require one to examine the style, mores, language and culture of a time and emulate it. I support that idea. However, to go one step further and publish it leaves one open to all sorts of criticism. I’ve read several books where the author has tried this tactic, and I’ve found all of them to be lacking. In the future, I’ll confine my revisionist reading to those in the Hogarth Shakespeare style, where the story is retold in a different time and place.

I was given an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley and Random House in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to both.

I was super excited to read this book as pride and prejudice is one of my favorite books and I wanted to enjoy Mary’s story. This one was a slight disappointment. I do believe the author tried heard to give a voice to Mary’s character. Unfortunately, it was hard on the other characters which didn’t feel honest or real to me. So, it made it a long, bore of a read.

Mary finally gets her day in this beautifully imagined story of the most maligned Bennett daughter. Funny, poignant and highly recommended.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the early copy. Opinions are solely mine.

#MaryB:anovel #NetGalley

DNF. This thing drags and drones so unnecessarily. It’s terrible. I read 10% and then the epilogue. I get the gist of what happened thanks to the epilogue, but sheesh. Not a good read at all.