Review: A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward
With Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia married, Mrs. Bennet has set her sights on marrying off Mary and Kitty. Since Kitty is currently away visiting her sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, Mary is taking the brunt of Mrs. Bennet’s efforts. While Mary is willing to meekly follow Mrs. Bennet’s instructions to smile and dance, she has no intention of marrying as she firmly believes that it is not a state she wishes to enter, having observed her sister’s marriages.
Ward has chosen to focus on Mary, the least understood and most overlooked of the Bennet sisters– in fact, in some movies based loosely on the original Austen story, they leave Mary out altogether. In A Match for Mary Bennet, Mary is very much as she was in Pride and Prejudice. She studies and reads but does not always get from the reading what most people would expect. She sees only the surface and assumes that what you see is all there is to a person. She doesn’t lie herself, and assumes everyone tells the truth. In a society based so much on hiding a person’s true emotions, Mary’s character leaves her ill prepared to deal with the world as it is. Luckily for Mary, she is somewhat protected by her family.
Mary also believes that people with authority are voices of reason; I believe that this is why she has been so taken with Mr. Collins. Her mother tells her Lizzie married Mr. Darcy to make up for refusing Mr. Collins and it was a huge sacrifice on Lizzie’s part. Mr. Collins tells Mary to never speak of Lydia again–to pretend she died. If authority says something, Mary doesn’t question–until she meets the new minister Mr. Darcy has chosen for Kympton, Mr. Oliver.
Without her sisters, Mary finds she’s asked to dance at the assemblies and that she also has to take part in conversations. We find that she’s not shallow. Mary has a good head on her shoulders, she just assumes that people are what they appear to be and when they ask a question — that is the question they are asking. As readers we find that Mary gives good advice. After meeting Mr. Oliver, she begins to pay more attention to the people around her and learns that she has often missed seeing the true person. Mary grows.
Her sisters’, Jane and Elizabeth, and their husbands, are aware that Mary doesn’t wish to marry and they manage to assist her in finding security in case she doesn’t change her mind.
There’s a lot going on in this book besides Mary finding herself and new inner strength to stand up for herself. Many of the original characters from Pride and Prejudice appear and continue their lives in concert with the way they were set in motion in that original book. Life goes on in the world of Pemberly and the people live their lives. Ward has fashioned an interesting story and has given us an interesting take on a Mary Bennet. It may not be to everyone’s taste as religion is a large part of Mary’s life and thus is a large part of her moving forward to become a more independent person. It’s not preachy and it’s totally in character. And as it shaped Mary in Pride and Prejudice it shapes her thoughts and actions in A Match for Mary Bennet. And as readers, we come to know her better for spending some time with her.