Review: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet

Australian Author Colleen McCullough’s Pride and Prejudice Sequel

Oct 7, 2008 Susan Whelan

Not shy of controversy, Colleen McCullough has created a novel that is sure to strike a nerve with Austen fans.

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)

The copyright of the article Review: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet in World Literatures is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Review: The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet

What do you think about this article?

---

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.

post your comment

What is 6+10?

Comments

Oct 26, 2008 2:43 AM

Guest :

Am up to page 204, and am more than a little freaked out!! Mr Darcy is horrible!! I hope he comes to!!

Ellie

Nov 22, 2008 5:45 AM

Guest :

I couldn't even get to the 200th page! It is an insult to Austen and to what true female independence is... the story relies on tearing the other Bennet sisters down; for Mary to become the equal of Lizzy in beauty and a 10 year old nephew to show the error in Mary's ways and encourage her further education! If you're an Austen fan, or believe that one does not have to be beautiful to be free then give this paperweight a miss! (I'm still reeling from the history of Lizzy and Darcy's wedding night! - Austen fans be warned!)

Dec 1, 2008 10:52 PM

Guest :

I admire Ms.McCullough for being so daring.
I would never have the guts, not in a million years to pull such a thing off!

Itching to read it :-}

Dec 4, 2008 9:00 PM

Guest :

This is a diabolically bad book, even if you ignore the atrocities the author has committed on Jane Austen's characters and story.

Mar 15, 2009 8:47 PM

Guest :

Just finished this book yesterday, the beginning was some hard going but then it swept into an adventure and the pressaure was taken off a bit. It reminded me of a moment in the movie "Becoming Jane" when Jane is telling her sister about the book she's writing which happened to be Pride and Prejudice.
Cassandra: How does it begin?
Jane: Badly.
C: And what happens?
J: It gets worse.
I think the characters are realistic, the situations are not but hey, it's fiction!
Elizabeth/Darcey lovers can't complain, their side story is about the rekindleing of thier love and finding eachother for who they are and the acceptance of that, if you had stuck with it to the end you would see that.

Apr 5, 2009 7:22 PM

Guest :

This bastardisation of Pride & Prejudice is truly appalling. A sequel it is not. It tears down Austen's brilliant work & remakes it into an historically inaccurate soap opera. The original characters are decimated & reworked until they are completely unrecognisable. My first utterance was "How dare she?" If taken as a stand-alone novel it could perhaps be termed 'bearable' but to do that one would have to ignore all references to P & P. Why McCullough didn't just write the bloody thing with new characters & absolutely no reference to P & P I'll never know. It really is terrible. It's hard to believe that McCullough has been reduced to dishing out this crap after having written so many masterpieces.

Aug 29, 2009 9:47 PM

Guest :

I was so excited when I saw "The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet" in the bookstore yesterday. I have read several of Colleen McCullough's novels and felt that she would be a good author to shine some light on Mary Bennet, the most neglected sister in "Pride and Prejudice". Was I ever wrong! The characters were diabolically different from those of Miss Austen, the story was farcical and the ending contrite. Ms. McCullogh could have done a much better job; she is a talented writer, but she chose to abandon any pretext of early 19th century speech or habits, and instead she gave the readers murders, sickos, marital discord for Elizabeth and Darcy and an incredible focus on bathrooms and toiletting.

Oct 21, 2009 6:45 AM

Guest :

As far as a story in general goes, the plot isn't bad. However, for a sequel to Pride & Prejudice, written by one of the most beloved writers in history, it's atrocious. For people who love Jane Austen, this novel is a travesty - all the characters are pulled apart continuously and the original plot butchered. The author rendered the original personalities of characters irrecognisable. All she did was put her fantasy of what happened after the 'happily ever after...' to paper. That doesn't make it worthy of a novel. Not everyone wants one of their favourite books pulled to pieces and the belief that somewhere, at same point in time, true love may actually have prevailed shattered. Furthermore, it is highly doubtful that any kind of gently bred person, even one reduced to poverty, swore like that. The author's grammar wasn't nearly adequate and it is highly doubtful that gently bred people behaved in such a manner. It's a very 21st century interpretation of what the 19th century MIGHT have been like. Needless to say, she failed miserably to do any justice to the original novel and history in general. Miss Austen would be disgusted to know that her pioneering work on the independence and social liberation of of women to be so slandered.

Jan 21, 2010 10:30 PM

Guest :

i think this book will kill all the darcy-lizzie love team.

Feb 7, 2010 10:09 AM

Guest :

Spotted this in the bookstore yesterday, read the first ten pages and the last five, and I'm really glad I didn't bother spending money on it. Every single character that I encountered in those pages was an awful person and nothing like the original.

10 Comments