I was wrong!!
I bought this book positive I was going to be disappointed. I'm not a Colleen McCullough fan & I love Pride & Prejudice so much that I was afraid it would be ruined for me OR that I would end up throwing $30 in the bin. BUT MARY'S STORY WAS REALLY ENJOYABLE. It's not written in the subtle drawing room manners style of Jane Austen & that's a good thing because otherwise it would just be a cheap copy. Instead, it's written in a really vibrant & alive fashion so it seems entirely Colleen McCulloughs own story. But the characters still ring true to Pride & Prejudice because their development into middle age (so to speak) is consistent with where & how Jane Austen started them. I must admit I always fantasized about Mary either dying young or being struck dumb (never to sing or moralize again) because I found her so irritating. Now I'm glad she didn't because I got to find out all about what happened next in the lives of the Bennet family.
Natalie, 11/12/2008
