Title: The Secret Life Of Miss Mary Bennet Series:The Secret Life Of Miss Mary Bennet Author: Katherine Cowley Genre: Adult, regency romance, retelling, historical fiction Type: E-book Publisher: Tule Publishing
Upon the death of her father, Mary Bennet’s life is thrown into turmoil. With no fortune or marriage prospects, Mary must rely on the kindness of her relatives. When a mysterious late-night visit by an unknown relative—a Lady Trafford from Castle Durrington—leads to an extended stay and the chance for an education, Mary gratefully accepts the opportunity.
But even as she arrives at the castle, she’s faced with one mystery after another. Who is Lady Trafford really and what is she hiding? Do her secrets and manipulations place the small seaside community at risk of an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte? Always curious, Mary sets out to discover the truth. But when she discovers the dead body of a would-be thief she outed prior to her father’s funeral, Mary jeopardizes her position at the castle and her family’s good name in her quest for the truth.
Never underestimate the observation skills of a woman who hides in the background.
This was such a fun romp. I’m always looking for a good Mary Bennet story, and this was wonderful! I love seeing Mary as the star of the story without any of the sisters taking too much precedence – I’ve unfortunately seen that happen in so many stories. I think taking Mary into a new place, with original characters surrounding her, was a smart way to give her a story with that pitfall.
One of my favourite things about this story is how the canon traits we are shown of Mary – few though they are (she’s honestly such a blank slate since we see her through the eyes of her sister) – do not just magically get wiped away. She’s awkward – so much secondhand embarrassment and anxiety for me, not going to lie, but I powered through, I thought it was really well done and realistic – and bad with reading the room, but we are given depth to why she is that way, and how much she wishes to grow and be a person people want to spend time with. So to see her slowly develop without losing herself was a wonderful treat.
(Some spoilers ahead!)
I did spend a lot of the novel quite irked at how Lady T could have saved them all a lot of trouble if she was a little bit more forthcoming. Just even a little show of trust would have gone a long way, in my opinion. She did not help her own case, because Mary’s observant nature was why she chose her in the first place, but then that same observant nature worked against Lady T because Mary knew Lady T was hiding something! I thought Mary forgave her too fast – would love if the sequel shows Mary having a few trust issues with everyone on a personal level if not professional, though I doubt it will happen and I will make do with fanfiction. LOL.
Withrow annoys me in a very ‘I wanna write fic of him hating that he cares for her until they actually save each other’s lives and he realises she genuinely believes he hates her’ kind of way, he’s such an asshole and I love it. I wanna put him Through It, and I do hope we get some of that in the next two books. (I am so going to write ficlets of this series, I can already tell.)
Fingers crossed I can borrow the next book from the library soon!
I’m Ara, a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. I love books and food and television and blogging and I get distracted and sidetracked easily.
