The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough
Buy on Amazon: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough
Let me preface this review by saying that, while I didn’t necessarily agree with all of the changes made by the characters of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, they were probably the most accurate portrayals of them out of any of the P&P knock-offs I’ve read.
The first half of this book was beautifully well-written. I loved the explanation of the change in Mary, appreciated the fact that Elizabeth’s oldest son was a driving force in her change and, while disliking the turn that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s relationship took over the 20 years between books, I think it was probably a very realistic portrayal of their relationship. So in that, I disagreed with a lot of the reviews I’d seen posted and the ratings out there.
My biggest issue with the book was the strange sort of mystery involving Mary and the Children of Jesus. It was.. bizarre and strange (as was Ned, but that’s a whole other story). It felt like it was patch-worked together and that Colleen McCullough was just searching for a way to make the book longer then it should have been. I think if this had been a short novella I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more.
So.. not as bad as I thought it would be, but not as good as I had hoped it might be. It’s definitely worth a read (unless you are a P&P purist and cannot bear to think of strife and trouble in the relationships between Jane and Bingley and Elizabeth and Darcy.)
