out of four), the title character gets some attitude, and a measure of revenge, in a story that inhabits and critiques Austen’s novel. Part I of this book is retelling of original Pride and Prejudice from perspective of Mary who hardly had any voice in the original story. She vanished with all hands; she may have hit a mine, been torpedoed by a U-boat or bombed by the RAF who were enforcing the blockade of Germany, as was the MV Kerlogue on this same route.

As the story continues, those who have read Pride and Prejudice will recognize the plot as it picks up at the beginning of Austen’s famous tale.

The overlooked middle sister in Pride and Prejudice casts off her prim exterior and takes center stage in this fresh retelling of the classic novel. There were constant gnat-bites such as young ladies drinking wine at a ball, instead of negus, orgeat, or lemonade, and pinning up their hair as children instead of wearing braids.

Small gaffes like “quill pens” and “lunchtime,” two terms a circa-1800 Mary Bennet would never use, pointed to a larger sense in which the book felt adrift both from its source material and from the social and historical context in which Pride and Prejudice exists. Chen's novel gives fans and non-fans a heroine who seeks a rich, independent life, in spite of the limits society has placed on her.

They add no beauty to their surroundings and will all grow up to be ugly old maids, living on the charity of their families. Mary has helped to establish Simpson Thacher as a global leader in the representation of financial sponsors in fund financings. With her local crew she delivered slate to Hamburg and London until the First World War when, in 1916 she became one of the first "Q" ships or decoy vessels. After they had finished in Lakeside, they drove back to the car park where Mary was first picked up at around 9pm. debut novelist Katherine Chen chooses to give Mary her own story – delving into her young, awkward life with her family at Longbourn, her early attempts at romantic attachments, and ultimately her escape to her sister’s home at Pemberley where she discovers an unknown talent, and that men can be interested in women for more than their reputed beauty and handsome dowry.

Let's just agree that the reader who enjoys the book, as I did, has agreed to suspend their disbelief regarding character and plot issues. I think our author is on a quest to see how many ways thing can go really-really-terribly WRONG in Austen’s universe. Infatuated with the silly man, Mary throws herself at him and then watches as he chooses her sister Lizzy as the “companion of his future life. The Mary B Mitchell had a good reputation as a Q-ship following the First World War, being credited with the destruction of two U-boats. It is Mary's fate to be a side character included in the story only to further the tale of Lizzy and Darcy, Jane and Bingley.There were parts I enjoyed, like the friendship that originally existed between Darcy and Mary, which later became uncomfortable, unbelievable and downright ridiculous when the author tried to convince us that he'd fallen out of love with Lizzy and in love with Mary. Beneath Mary's plain appearance and bookish demeanor simmers an inner life brimming with passion, humor, and imagination--and a voice that demands to be heard. Friends and family members described her as a "stunning girl" who was "very well known around the community" and "very well liked". The first 42% of the story tells us what we already know- Jane/Bingley, Elizabeth/Darcy, and Lydia/Wickham. Her work has been published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, and the historical fiction anthology Stories from Suffragette City.

Instead of bringing fresh, new ideas to our discussions of "Pride and Prejudice," Chen poorly copies ideas that have been around for over a hundred years. Even compared to her frivolous younger siblings, Kitty and Lydia, Mary knows she is lacking in the ways that matter for single, not-so-well-to-do women in nineteenth-century England who must secure their futures through the finding of a husband. I felt like the characters were more Edith Wharton-like as they headed toward self-destruction and unhappiness.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. Whether you serve them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert, they’re the perfect addition to any meal. As I worked my way through the first third to half of the book, I came to the realization that its biggest challenge is Mary Bennett. It reminds me of stories where D is portrayed with more accuracy in regards to his treatment of women, servants, etc. Mr Udomhiaye then said, 60 seconds after this, she could be seen "crossing the tracks with her mobile phone in her hand".