The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

Firstly I would like to thank Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and provide a true and honest review of this book, having been an avid Jane Austen fan this was a book I could not miss getting my hands on.

This is a continuation story in the style of Jane Austen and set's off with a recap of the Bennett sisters and their trials and tribulations during Pride and Prejudice. Janice Hadlow seamlessly continues the story from the perspective and somewhat ugly duckling of the family, Mary's point of view as she seeks to find her true self and transforms into a women of some substantial substance.

As the marginalized middle daughter to the Bennett family, the plain bookish girl of frustrating intellect takes Mary on a journey by her siblings before her. She learns that true happiness can only be found within herself and that the rantings of her mother are both found less and hurtful preventing her from ever being able to meet with the expectations placed upon her.

The writing is beautifully alliterated in the style of Austen and draws you immediately back into the welcoming and warm embrace of a family known and loved for generations. Mary may not have a leading man as proud as Darcy or as handsome as Mr Bingley but she will find herself in the company of a gentleman in keeping with her idea of happiness and love.

This vulnerable, conflicted protagonist will have you speeding through these pages with great delight until its inevitable conclusion, this book did not disappoint and I shall be happy to read any subequent books by Janice Hadlow.

For this reason I gave this book 4*

About the Author

Janice Hadlow worked at the BBC for more than two decades, and for ten of those years she ran BBC Two and BBC Four, two of the broadcaster’s major television channels. She was educated at Swanley School in Kent and graduated with a first class degree in history from King’s college, London. She is the author of A Royal Experiment, a biography of Great Britain's King George III. She currently lives in Edinburgh. The Other Bennet Sister is her first novel.

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