When I found this on the library's "new books" shelves, I was intrigued. Why would anyone write a novel with Mary Bennet as the main character? In Pride and Prejudice, she's the middle daughter, very preachy, very serious, very down in the mouth. She seems to be surrounded by a perpetual cloud of glum - that is, if her presence can even recalled at all, except for that moment at the party when she's told to shut up and let someone else have a turn. Mary is to be laughed at, in Austen's book, but in Chen's book, she holds her own.
Mary B begins in childhood, with Mary realising that she's not treated the same as her other sisters. She is hurt in the face but the adults' concern is for Jane.
"Though still a child, I already saw, unfolding before me, a life lived ingratiatingly in the shadwos, of sitting like an old gargoyle at dinner tables while, some few feet away, the living laughed and exchanged stories. I would have no stories to tell. No estates to run. No children to speak of. I would not be blessed with the holy rites of matrimony and would thus be compelled to live my years beholden to the loveliness of one or two older sisters, who would, by their charity, ensure that I always had food to eat and a roof over my head."
The action then moves into the very same period with the original characters and storyline, except seen from Mary's perspective. And this I enjoyed very much. It was interesting to see things from the sidelines, as a young woman with no suitors, assigned the "role of living scenery", like Charlotte and Maria Lucas are too.
"These women will normally appear extraordinarily pleased with themselves and their company, for it is in their best interest that they look as happy in talking with members of their own sex as the women who are engaged in dancing, or, worse, the women who are not engaged in dancing but are surrounded by more men than should justly be allotted to them, which, of course, is any number more than one."
I found it interesting that Chen developed Mr Collins' character quite a bit, for he is quite a character and I'd always thought that he and Mary would have gotten along - or at least had more similarities than the other characters.
So I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the book, written in the same setting and period as the original book. But where Chen gets more daring is in the second half of the book, where she ventures to imagine a future for the Bennets.
And this is perhaps where things take a turn for the not so good. In this imagined future, things are not so rosy for all her sisters. I don't want to reveal any spoilers so I won't go any further but I must say that I do not like Chen's vision of Elizabeth's future. She writes Lizzy as a very whiny character, as if Chen herself has been affronted by Lizzy in some way.
Perhaps if Chen had stayed with the Pride and Prejudice story and not ventured too far, she might have been more successful. It's never easy retelling a beloved story and this is an especially beloved story with its many movie and TV adaptations. I could feel her sentiments about Mary, I could tell she was so wanting Mary to have her chance to shine, to have her happy ending, but it seemed too much like it was at the expense of the other characters.
This is my second read of 2019 and I'm using this book for the Popsugar challenge - Book With a Plant in the Title or on the Cover:
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From a very young age Mary Bennet realised that she was of no consequence to her family. She would never make a match that could save her family, that was for Jane. In this variation and sequel we read of events from Mary's point of view, her view of her relations which have been coloured by her perception of her worth.
I really enjoyed this, it is a wonderful change to actually read about the flaws of the main characters from P&P, which can then send them in a different direction.
This is not canon it is a variation, and if you want to read variations that are not centred on Darcy and Elizabeth read this.
A NetGalley Book ( )

I have to admit that I never really wondered what happened to Mary Bennett after the closing lines of Pride & Prejudice. And I smiled and laughed at the subtle humor Jane Austen used in portraying Mary's opinions, her unattractiveness, and sullen behavior in social situations in comparison with her other four sisters. I glossed over Mary as just a plot point, an unimportant side character. I never really gave her much thought. Until now.

Mary B is a re-telling and continuation of the Pride and Prejudice story from Mary Bennett's point of view. Mary starts out by saying that she realized at a very young age that she was totally plain and that this one fact would effect her entire life. She wouldn't be considered a prize for marriage or ever be a contender for her parent's love, affection, or pride because she would be over-shadowed in entirety by all of her other sisters. Then she tells the familiar classic story from her vantage point. Is she morose, jealous, insecure, whiny and at times vindictive? Yep. But, she is the middle child in the center of a classic novel people have been reading for more than 200 years. In all those 200 years nobody ever thought to ask what happened to poor Mary Bennett when her pretty sisters left. Jane Austen didn't even care enough about the character to give a hint at the end of P&P. Mary just disappeared. *Poof* Not important.

Many will balk at the idea of the P&P canon being challenged when characters put forth as kind and intelligent show themselves to also be a bit vain, mean, and even careless. But, it must be kept in mind that this re-telling is from the perspective of a middle child who sees her sisters in a different light than anyone else. She lives with them, eats with them, watches their behavior.....and colors everything with the backlash of her emotions as the plain one, the one nobody wants or cares about.

I found this book to be well-written....a creative and brave debut novel! Taking classic, beloved characters and giving them a bit of a public dressing down opens a story up to backlash from loyal readers of the original. Judging from some of the reviews I read, some just couldn't "connect" with this book. They love Lizzy and Jane.....and didn't care about some side character's jealousies and feelings. Understandable. But, I put my feelings about Jane, Lizzy and all of Austen's intentions for her characters aside for awhile, and just let Chen tell Mary's story. The story gives insight not only into Mary and the Bennetts, but also into the characters of Mr. Darcy, Mr. Collins, and Col. Fitzwilliam outside of the confines of the original novel (which is also a brave move on the part of the author). Did I agree with all of it? No. I felt that Mary's side of things was perhaps a bit too harsh, pessimistic and dark. But......Mary feels slighted by her family and everyone around her. Of course her view of everything would be pessimistic and dark.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I like the original better and always will. It's a classic...and perfect the way it is. 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. Just like Kitty and Lydia who pretty much got dumped unceremoniously at the end....Mary flings off into nothingness at the close of P&P. 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.

Mary B is Katherine Chen's debut novel. I would definitely read more by this author. I like her writing style. The story concept is interesting and very creative. The tale kept my attention from beginning to end, even if I did disagree with some of the characterizations and events.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Random House via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
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Mary B by Katherine J. Chen is a different take on the Pride and Prejudice story. This ends up not being the book for me for two primary reasons. First is Mary herself. She is not a likable character, and she makes some pretty unsavory decisions, further leaving nothing to sympathize with. Second, the other characterizations in the book bear no resemblance to the characters from the original, except the names. So, the book loses me.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/03/mary-b.html

Reviewed for NetGalley. ( )

I'm not a particular fan of Pride and Prejudice, but I enjoy Austen's work well enough and thought Mary B might be a fun story since I'm not terribly wedded to the purity of the original P&P while still enjoying stories set at the time and even based on P&P.

Unfortunately, while Mary B has some suggestion of interesting story and re-examination of women's roles in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the characters in the first 80 pages were so miserable and unlikable that I could not continue.

It's true that many of the characters in Pride and Prejudice can be off-putting with bad attitudes, but every single person in Mary B has had those ugly characteristics dialed up and made their central point of being. Perhaps it's because the pov is through Mary, who is herself a very unhappy person, and being so unhappy and miserable does tend to color the way we see the world around us, but it doesn't matter: I didn't enjoy reading about awful people being awful to each other, and I didn't trust that this would change if I just read a few more pages. ( )