The Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Pamela Mingle

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Pamela Mingle is a continuation of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. This novel features the socially awkward and seemingly unlucky character of Mary Bennet.

Book Description

“The enthralling story of Pride and Prejudice's middle sister, Mary Bennet — an enchanting modern sequel to the beloved classic.

For most of her life, Mary, the serious and unpolished third daughter of the Bennet family, has been overshadowed by her sisters—beautiful and confident Jane and Elizabeth, and flirtatious and lighthearted Lydia and Kitty. But with nearly all of her sisters married and gone from the household, awkward, unrefined Mary has blossomed into an attractive young woman with a quiet poise of her own.

When a very pregnant Lydia unexpectedly returns to the Bennet home and scandalously announces she's left Wickham, Mary and Kitty are packed off to visit Jane and her husband, Charles Bingley, in Derbyshire. Yearning for the solitude of home, Mary is dismayed to discover Bingley's handsome and eligible friend Henry Walsh everywhere she turns. Unschooled in the game of love, Mary finds Henry's warm attentions confounding. Is his interest genuine or does she foolishly mistake friendliness for something more? With her heart and her future at risk, Mary must throw caution to the wind to find the truth—a journey of discovery that will teach her surprising lessons about herself and the desires of her heart.” – The Pursuit of Mary Bennet

My Thoughts

The Pursuit of Mary Bennet is an easily read version of the characters from Pride and Prejudice. I like that the author took a lesser known character that was so different from the rest of characters to write a story of her own about.

It is written in the first person, and is often a bit too “woe is me” for my liking. Mary would definitely have been an emo goth girl if written about today, writing bad poetry and wearing too much black eye liner. She does however grow as a person and character throughout the book, which was nice to see. Sadly, I didn’t grow to like her or care much about her though.

Overall this is a decent book. It isn’t my favorite kind of book, therefore, I can’t give it a glowing review. There were also some very awkward moments in it, which I won’t get into, which also haves me not raving about this book. It is not a bad book though, so don’t get me wrong there. It just didn’t mesh that well with me.

However, if you enjoy historical fiction, and especially “Pride and Prejudice” this would be a book you’d likely want to read and likely enjoy.

* Thank you to the publisher of The Pursuit of Mary Bennet, William Morrow, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.