"Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice" by Katherine J. Chen

Every now and then I stumble upon a delightful Pride and Prejudice retelling. Mary B looked promising. The novel was supposed to give us the story of the middle sister Mary, the one who would have made a great match for Mr. Collins. Thank goodness I checked this book out of the library and did not pay for it! What an absolute disappointment and a waste of time! Not only did Chen make out the characters to be nothing like they were in Austen's novel (enter whiny Darcy and selfish and rude Lizzy), her characters also behaved in ways that would be unimaginable during that time period. A maid gulping down water meant for her mistress, a young religious girl (Mary) throwing herself at a clergyman, and a son of an earl mistaking a gentlewoman for a housemaid. What was the author thinking?

I do realize that Chen was trying to make Mary B interesting just very misunderstood. In fact, I kept thinking she was trying to pattern her after Jane Eyre and Darcy after Rochester. Alas, Jane Eyre's appeal is not only in the strength of character, resilience and independence of spirit, it is also in her sound principles. She flatly refuses to be with the man she loves when she learns he has a wife who is still living. Mary B's version of independence of spirit is more akin to our modern notions of sexual freedom. And don't get me started on Colonel Fitzwilliam - he is nothing close to the one in Austen's novel!

I will stop the rant here. You get the picture. This book is bad. Chen should have written a completely original novel that has nothing to do with Pride and Prejudice and she definitely should not have set it in the time period she clearly does not understand. 1 out of 5 stars.