The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

 

Title:  The Other Bennet Sister

Author:  Janice Hadlow

Narrated by:  Carla Mendonca

Publisher: Macmillian Audio

Length: Approximately 18 hours and 10 minutes

Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Who is your favorite middle child in a book, show, or movie?  Mary Bennet from Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite middle children in literature and I love that she has been getting books written about her that focus more on her story.

The Other Bennet Sister is a very interesting look at Mary’s story.  The first half of the book is Pride & Prejudice retold from Mary’s point of view.  After Mr. Collin’s proposal, the book skips forward two years.  The second half of the book is about Mary finding her own way in the world and her own happiness.  She visits many of the characters from Pride and Prejudice and the reader is able to see how their lives have turned out.

I greatly enjoyed this audiobook.  It made me really feel for Mary in a way I never had before.  I’ve read her as an object of ridicule in many stories or even as her own mystery crime fighter.  In this novel, the reader really gets to see how Mary was the true middle child.  Her sisters older and younger than her paired off and left her alone.  Her mother focused solely on looks and let her know early on that she was plain and not worthy of her time.  Mary wanted to have intellectual conversations with her father, but he didn’t help her either.  It made me really sad for her.  She just wanted guidance and love from her parents and her family.

Luckily, Mrs. Hill and the Gardners are the real MVPs of the story for having Mary’s back and helping her out when her own family did not.  I loved the romance that developed in the book.

I also couldn’t believe this book made me really feel for Mr. Collins.  He admits that he is socially awkward, and he just wants someone to love him.  It was heartbreaking to learn his true thoughts.

I read this for our JASNA Northwoods Book Club which was this past weekend.  We had an enjoyable discussion on this book and other topics. 

Carla Mendonca was a great narrator, and I adored this audiobook.  I know other reviews have discussed how this book was too long, but it worked well with length and pacing on audiobook.