Mary B: A Novel: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice

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I don't want to give away to much of the story but this part of the story asks a question that is both old and new: Can a woman attract a man with something other than her look? Mary B is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of one of Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters. Our brains have evolved complex mechanisms for controlling the circumstances under which such changes occur. There is nothing from what I have seen to suggest it was a deliberate act, she was simply trying to cross the tracks," added Mr Udomiaye.

Eventually, Mary publishes her god-awful novel and gets enough money to live in a cottage by herself. I question, given her sister Lydia’s disastrous match, why she would do this without a second thought. 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.In giving Mary Bennet a resonant voice of her own, Chen has fashioned a luminous and enlightening novel that will entrance even, or especially, those who have not read Jane Austen's masterpiece. I was looking forward to reading this, I like stories about the other Bennet girls and what could of happen to them. I hate not finishing a story but I may do myself harm if I continue with this depressing dark story. Chen is mindful, though, that a young woman among the gentry of early 1800s England could only act out so much, especially with parents desperate to land financial security (i. Chen tried to make it seem like Lizzy was little more than a pretty face and downplayed her love for her family, her kindness, her intelligence, and her depth of emotion.

But why and how this change takes place -- which seems like it ought to be the heart of the novel -- is never answered to my satisfaction. She was never a fully developed character, but a caricature of the less attractive sister who is an embarrassment and impediment for her elder sisters. As he was moving out of the station he said he "saw something move which could have been anything" so he sounded the train's horn. And, with the arrival of his churlish cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam she is introduced to the delights of the physical realm when he teaches her to ride a horse – and the arts of a more private nature. Although some motivation is given, her transformation is abrupt, and the person she turns into seems, like the book overall, to not quite make sense either in terms of Austen’s novel or the world it sprang from.The stillbirth was indeed tragic (and I would personally have appreciated a warning as I would never have requested the book had I known about it) but Elizabeth is so altered to be unrecognizable, both before and after the event. It is now the new guilty pleasure in the Austenesque genre, outpacing Colleen McCullough’s irreverent The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by ten lengths.

Bennet noticed any of his daughters' looks--his favoritism for Lizzie was in their sharing reading and most of all a sense of humor, not him relishing her beauty. Part two goes down a very twisted and terrible path which completely and utterly detaches from everything the Austen fan loves about this famous classic.I think the only hope for this book is for the publisher to market it as satire, whether it is or not. I give my sincerest condolences to the family and friends at what must have been an incredible difficult time and still is. YES, that's right, the husband of our beloved and fundamentally good-hearted Elizabeth Bennet, who, in this novel, has become materialistic and cold, both out of plot convenience and the author wanting to make Mary seem cleverer and wittier by comparison. Fitzwilliam outside of the confines of the original novel (which is also a brave move on the part of the author). and colors everything with the backlash of her emotions as the plain one, the one nobody wants or cares about.

For myself, I read this fast, over a midweek 36 hours, and the whole time was in the unusual condition of not knowing what to think. She is “the only plain one in the family,” who “had neither genius nor taste,” with a weak voice and an affection for “threadbare morality. Collins, unrivaled by any other feeling in the world, to reach the last page of a book and know that you have lived in it, that you have stood witness to the performance of momentous deeds at the hands of extraordinary personalities?But, as the story reached its conclusion, I changed my mind; the ending was satisfactory and the character of Mary B fulfilled her destiny (as imagined by this author).