Review: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet
Australian Author Colleen McCullough’s Pride and Prejudice Sequel
Oct 7, 2008
Of Jane Austen’s six novels, Pride and Prejudice remains the most popular, inspiring films and television series. In addition, the Jane Austen fan website pemberley.com lists over fifty sequels, most of which have been written since the BBC miniseries in 1995.
Colleen McCullough’s new release The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet (Harper Collins, 2008) stands out from this crowd, by making the least known Bennet sister the centre of the story. It is McCullough’s characterisation of Darcy and Elizabeth, however, that will attract the attention of indignant Austen fans.
Mary Bennet – A Very Modern Heroine
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet opens with the death of Mrs Bennet. Hidden away from the world so as to cause least embarrassment to her son-in-law Darcy (now called Fitz by his familiars), Mrs Bennet has been cared for by her daughter Mary for the past twenty years.
Mary has spent her isolation correcting the character flaws of her youth. No longer obsessed with religion, she has turned her attention to educating herself beyond what was accepted for a woman of her time. Turning down Fitz’s offer of a home at Pemberley, she uses the money conferred upon her by her brothers-in-law to research a book revealing the plight of England’s working poor.
It is here that Mary’s story leaves the drawing rooms and gardens of Austen and becomes a rollicking tale of adventure in a time when gentlewomen were not permitted to sit unaccompanied with a man, let alone travel across the country by public coach.
Despite her spinsterhood, Mary’s beauty and strength of will attracts the attentions of wealthy newspaperman Angus Sinclair. His attempts to win her affections are worthy of any Austen hero.
McCullough’s Take on Elizabeth and Darcy
Had McCullough limited The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet only to the adventures of Mary and her romance with Angus, it would probably be just another Austen sequel. As entertaining as this plotline is, it is the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth that will most likely set Austenites talking.
McCullough’s Darcy is not the man who set Elizabeth’s heart afire at the end of Pride and Prejudice. A hard man, marriage to Elizabeth has done little to conquer his pride. Indeed, Fitz is even more stern and unforgiving than he was as a younger man. Elizabeth’s marriage has given her little joy, and she is no longer the beauty that she was in her youth.
While this imagining of a future for the beloved Mr and Mrs Darcy may have been an injection of realism by McCullough, it will be unlikely to win her any credit among the more zealous Austen fans, or even those who have a more casual fondness for the characters.
The other sisters fare a little better. Jane is happily married to Bingley and bears him many children. Kitty is happily widowed after a short marriage to a much older Lord. Lydia’s inauspicious beginning to married life has resulted in a life of alcoholism and impropriety.
About Colleen McCullough
With nineteen novels in publication, Norfolk Island resident Colleen McCullough is one of Australia’s most popular authors. She is best known for the 1977 novel The Thorn Birds, and the acclaimed Masters of Rome series.
Love it or hate it, The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet will certainly make Austen-lovers sit up and take notice.
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet (ISBN 978 0 7322 8722 1, 480 pages)
