The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough
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So....this is probably my least favourite of all the Mary B published fanfictions. There is a trend of Mary B spinoffs that protray Mary in a happier light, by making all of the other Bennet sisters miserable. The Pursuit of Mary Bennet did this and Mary B did this. I probably dislike this book even more than Mary B. And I think it's beause the tone of this Pride and Prejudice spinoff seems so much darker.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have died when this book begins. Jane is still beautiful, but she basically has become breeding stock (12 children, 8 living and 4 dead from either stillbirth or newborn death). Charles Bingley has a mistress in Jamacia and children from this extramarital arrangement. Lydia falls into degeneracy - drinking and sleeping around, and then she is murdered.
Books referenced in this book:
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Book of Common Prayer
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Prolegomena ad Homerum
This book does have one redeeming quality though: Mary's emergence as an writer. In Mary B, Mary works on the draft of a fanciful novel about "Queen Leonora". I didn't really find this "in-character" for Mary. In Pride and Prejudice, Mary had her feet firmly planted on the ground. She had words of wisdom from her favourite books for almost every situation, and although she tried to offer advice to her family, she lacked the empathy and compassion to comfort them. A great example is when Mary tries to comfort her family when Lydia runs away. To write fictional characters, one must have empathy, so as to imagine yourself "in their shoes". So that is why I found this book much more realistic in terms of Mary's writing career.
Mary sets out to write a book titled The Ills of England. "Yes, I will journey to see England's ills, write my book, and pay to have it published. Publishers pay the ladies who write the three-volume novel, but not the authors of serious works: so said Mrs. Rowtree, that time she gave a lecture in the Hertford library. Mrs. Rowtree writes three-volume novels and has scant respect for serious books. Those, she informed us, have to be funded by the authors, and the publication process fosts about nine thousand pounds. That is almost all I have, but it will see my book published." page 53
"When I have assembled all the facts, the notes, the conclusions, I will write my book. Around the beginning of May I will set out on my journey of investigation. Not to London, but to the North. Lancashire and Yorkshire, where, according to Argus, exploitation is most vicious. Mine eyes yearn to see for themselves, for I have lived circumscribed and circumspect, passing the wattle-and-daub hovels in the hedgerows as if they did not exist." page 54
When I first read this part in the book, I was gobsmacked. I really thought this was something. That instead of spouting off quotes she had copied down, Mary wanted to see the England for herself. She wanted to see the parts of England that were abandonned and forgotten, where people were poor and destitute and hungry. She wanted to see the parts of England that she was oblivious too for most of her life, as a white middle-class woman, who never needed to work one day in her life. The fact that she wanted to go against the grain of the 19th century zeitgeist, were women writers could only write fictional novels was really astounding to me. And that she would pay her life's savings to see her book published. I loved these pages and wish the entire novel was about Mary's research and data collection and writing. After reading this book, I can only see Mary Bennet as a non-fiction writer.
So I am conflicted about this novel. What happens to Jane and Lydia is horrendous, but Colleen McCullough provides excellent insight into Mary Bennet's potential writing career. I'm so glad I'm not on goodreads anymore, because I would not know how to rate this book.
So....this is probably my least favourite of all the Mary B published fanfictions. There is a trend of Mary B spinoffs that protray Mary in a happier light, by making all of the other Bennet sisters miserable. The Pursuit of Mary Bennet did this and Mary B did this. I probably dislike this book even more than Mary B. And I think it's beause the tone of this Pride and Prejudice spinoff seems so much darker.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have died when this book begins. Jane is still beautiful, but she basically has become breeding stock (12 children, 8 living and 4 dead from either stillbirth or newborn death). Charles Bingley has a mistress in Jamacia and children from this extramarital arrangement. Lydia falls into degeneracy - drinking and sleeping around, and then she is murdered.
Books referenced in this book:
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Book of Common Prayer
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
Prolegomena ad Homerum
This book does have one redeeming quality though: Mary's emergence as an writer. In Mary B, Mary works on the draft of a fanciful novel about "Queen Leonora". I didn't really find this "in-character" for Mary. In Pride and Prejudice, Mary had her feet firmly planted on the ground. She had words of wisdom from her favourite books for almost every situation, and although she tried to offer advice to her family, she lacked the empathy and compassion to comfort them. A great example is when Mary tries to comfort her family when Lydia runs away. To write fictional characters, one must have empathy, so as to imagine yourself "in their shoes". So that is why I found this book much more realistic in terms of Mary's writing career.
Mary sets out to write a book titled The Ills of England. "Yes, I will journey to see England's ills, write my book, and pay to have it published. Publishers pay the ladies who write the three-volume novel, but not the authors of serious works: so said Mrs. Rowtree, that time she gave a lecture in the Hertford library. Mrs. Rowtree writes three-volume novels and has scant respect for serious books. Those, she informed us, have to be funded by the authors, and the publication process fosts about nine thousand pounds. That is almost all I have, but it will see my book published." page 53
"When I have assembled all the facts, the notes, the conclusions, I will write my book. Around the beginning of May I will set out on my journey of investigation. Not to London, but to the North. Lancashire and Yorkshire, where, according to Argus, exploitation is most vicious. Mine eyes yearn to see for themselves, for I have lived circumscribed and circumspect, passing the wattle-and-daub hovels in the hedgerows as if they did not exist." page 54
When I first read this part in the book, I was gobsmacked. I really thought this was something. That instead of spouting off quotes she had copied down, Mary wanted to see the England for herself. She wanted to see the parts of England that were abandonned and forgotten, where people were poor and destitute and hungry. She wanted to see the parts of England that she was oblivious too for most of her life, as a white middle-class woman, who never needed to work one day in her life. The fact that she wanted to go against the grain of the 19th century zeitgeist, were women writers could only write fictional novels was really astounding to me. And that she would pay her life's savings to see her book published. I loved these pages and wish the entire novel was about Mary's research and data collection and writing. After reading this book, I can only see Mary Bennet as a non-fiction writer.
So I am conflicted about this novel. What happens to Jane and Lydia is horrendous, but Colleen McCullough provides excellent insight into Mary Bennet's potential writing career. I'm so glad I'm not on goodreads anymore, because I would not know how to rate this book.