Mrs. Bennet's Sentiments: Pride and Prejudice and Perseverance

by Dori Salerno

JANE AUSTEN'S MOTHER TELLS ALL!Jane Austen's Mrs. Bennet, mother of five difficult teenage daughters, is silent no more. Those who grew up enjoying Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" will delight in "Mrs. Bennet's Sentiments". Tired of having her ungrateful girls roll their their eyes at her and watching her husband return to his man cave, Mrs. Bennet finally tell all."Mrs. Bennet surprises them all.""She defies the conventions of the day -- proving the old adage 'Mother knows best'".

309 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 21, 2016

Reviews

[Abi Demina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. This started off so promisingly and then it all went downhill.

I loved the idea that Mrs Bennet's infamous 'nerves' and screeching were a result of going through the menopause. I loved the fresh perspective of her husband and daughters, from a lady who is underestimated because they think her silly and irrational. I loved that for once we see how Elizabeth's sarcastic wit and Mr Bennet's scorn might be hurtful, and that a child like Lydia, who is naturally full of joyful exuberance, might lift spirits made low by Mrs Bennet's other family members.
All of this was so plausible that I felt sure I was in for a treat with this book.

Then the trouble started.

It quickly became apparent that the author was not a JAFF reader herself, and does not know Pride and Prejudice (at least the book, not the movie) nor the time period very well.

It started with small things, like the Bennet daughters changing their own bed sheets and Mrs Bennet preparing the family's meals, as they seem to have no cook or housemaid or housekeeper. Okay, I thought, the author is simply imagining a poorer Bennet family that have no servants... a little problematic for an estate owner, but it might be interesting...
Except it turned out to be a lack of understanding from the author, rather than a plot choice, as mistakes piled up.

While it is true that Jane Austen herself appears to have misunderstood the nature of an entail (she did not realise that a landowner in England by this time could end the terms of an entail with relative ease, allowing daughters to inherit if he wished), she at least had the excuse of land laws being murky and misunderstood at the time, and the lack of Google as a resource for fact checking.
The author of this book has no such excuse and manages to misunderstand entails entirely, allowing Mr Collins to turn out the current family - including Mr Bennet! - whenever he chooses. How this makes any sense to the author, I do not know. Presumably under the terms of this new fictional entail, Mr Collins' own son would be able to turn out his father at will, too? Totally bizarre.

There were so many historical inaccuracies, and each grew more aggravating as they began to accumulate:

* Mrs Bennet gives Bingley a miniature of Jane when they are neither engaged nor have any kind of understanding, and he publicly accepts it.
* Caroline Bingley offers Darcy a portrait of herself!
* Notes are sent by gentlemen to unmarried ladies: Mrs Bennet wonders if Bingley will send Jane a private note explaining his departure to London (again, they are NOT engaged), and Wickham writes to Elizabeth and sends it addressed to her at her home. Her parents neither intercept nor open it, but simply tell Jane to take it to her sister.
* Characters frequently use each other's first names when talking to or about each other, which the author clearly knows to be incorrect, since at one point Caroline Bingley requests being on first name terms with Mrs Bennet, so I'm not sure why that kept happening...
* Mr Darcy visits Mrs Bennet in her bedchamber, during her stay at Rosings.

Then there were the silly mistakes:

* Mr Bennet sits in his study at Longbourn, looks out of the window and watches Charlotte Lucas in the Lucas's garden talking to Mr Collins. Does the author not understand what an estate is? It's not a small cottage with a garden overlooking their neighbours!
She writes about Mr Bennet being a gentleman farmer as though that means he is physically tilling the fields and tinkering with machinery. And even if she pictures him being a regular farmer, why can he see the Lucas's garden from his study?

*Anne de Bourgh is referred to as 'Lady Anne' when she would have no such title. Even though Sir Lewis has randomly been changed to 'Lord Lewis' and Lady Catherine is already the daughter of an Earl, that would still not make Anne 'Lady Anne', she would be Miss de Bourgh.

*Georgiana Darcy is accompanied to Netherfield by her housekeeper rather than a companion. Who is running the house and ordering the servants in her absence then?!

*Mr Bennet is named 'Edward', despite Mrs Bennet's brother already being called Edward in Pride and Prejudice.
(Side note: Although Colonel Fitzwilliam's first name is never written in the original book, calling him 'William' Fitzwilliam also felt odd after so many JAFFs calling him 'Richard', which is in part what made me also think the author was probably not a JAFF reader herself.)

Mrs Bennet changes rapidly from having a unique perspective, to being far too modern (and almost American?) in her impatience for the manners and social norms of the time:

*She invites the Darcy's housekeeper, the village seamstress and the baker to her daughter's wedding and is impatient with Mr Darcy's desire to maintain a proper social distance between himself and the working classes, especially his own servants.
Incidentally, there is a difference between maintaining class distinctions and treating working class people like pondscum (look at Darcy's treatment of his servants in Pride and Prejudice for the perfect example of someone who treats the lower orders with respect and benevolence, without needing to sit at the kitchen table rubbing shoulders with the boot boy to be considered a good landlord and master), but that subtlety seems lost here.

* Mrs Bennet makes open comments about how women are forced into marriage to avoid poverty and cannot earn their own living and every woman around her immediately sympathises.
This also shows such a lack of understanding of the time. When they were first published, Mary Wollstonecroft's ideas were viewed with almost universal disfavour, among men and women alike.
(The only part well received were her thoughts on female education, which was hardly surprising since girls whose families could afford governesses were already taught multiple languages, music, history and 'use of the globes', so it was not such a novel idea. Female independence was quite another matter however.)

* Mrs Bennet allows Lydia to move back home without foreseeing that Wickham could demand his wife's return by law.

* Mrs Bennet also decides to leave her own husband and basically says he has no choice but to accept it. Er... he could have locked her up or beaten her if he decided to, with full support from the law. Men had ownership of their wives. Nobody is saying it's a good thing, but if you're writing in the time period, your characters need to think as people of the time, not as someone from two hundred years in the future.

Let's return to Mrs Bennet's decision to leave Mr Bennet for a moment.
She not only decides they will live apart, but decides to move to France and everyone thinks this is wonderful....
....DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WAR!!!!
Arrrrghhhhhhhh!!!!
Who does the author think the English are fighting?! Why does she think soldiers (including the frequently mentioned Officers, Denny and Wickham, and Colonel Forster) are encamped at Meryton, and then at Brighton, for training?

*Takes a deep breath. Finds a happy place. (Pemberley. Ah)*

Okay. Sorry, I needed a moment.

Oh no, but thoughts of my happy place have reminded me of yet another error. Pemberley - you know, the grandest estate in Derbyshire, owned by the Darcy family for generations - is uprooted from a county at least 3 days carriage travel away, and transplanted to the outskirts of London, within easy reach of the Gardiner's residence for a DAY TRIP.
Well, I'm assuming the property moved, but perhaps the horses could simply gallop at 70mph, fueled by Mr Bennet's hand-grown and personally scythed super hay?

Lastly, we come to the thing that made me most frustrated. It felt as though the author wrote this book after a terrible and bitter breakup, she seems to hate relationships so much.
The happiest couples in the book are Bingley & Jane and Kitty & Denny, but the author sneers at them for being so naive in their contentment.

Darcy is awful. He is a snob and arrogant from beginning to end. Elizabeth is nasty and judgemental from beginning to end. Their marriage is awful and based on them being judgemental together and Elizabeth fearing to displease her husband.

Mary is celebrated for her independence and desire to be a teacher, and Lydia's reward for nearly ruining the entire family is a happy ending by being widowed and sent to France with her mother, presumably to be shot by the French.

Yeah, I am sad about this one. The beginning promised such a refreshing new perspective, but it delivered a jumble of errors, inaccuracies, and modern scorn for the era we love to read about.

[Talia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this version of Mrs Bennet. I have a soft spot for her and her nerves. Mrs Bennet has a lot to put her nerves on edge having to marry off 5 girls with little dowry and we all know Mr Bennett prefers to close the door to his study to crack open a book than to do much of anything useful. No wonder Mrs Bennet is overcome with nerves.

The author of this book did a fantastic job of showing how little respect Mrs Bennet receives. It is so refreshing. I think anyone who is in a committed relationship can understand her frustrations. Her kindness and wisdom are readily apparent to all but her own family members. Mrs Bennet follows the beat of her own drum in the end reminding us all to be true to ourselves.

I wanted to kiss the book when done.

Reread: Let me tell you that this is one of my favorite books. I really want to know what Mrs Bennet does in her artist colony. I need a sequel.

Reread: One of the best JAFF books out there.

[Barb · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the two star rating indicates, I found this book just okay. It is not a book I would recommend to anyone familiar with Pride and Prejudice or most of the fan fiction written about the story. Although a variation of P&P, there are just too many things different to take it far enough away to give the reader the feeling the author is not very familiar with Pride and Prejudice.

I like variations on P&P and don't consider myself much of a purist. But, there are a few things I guess I find not negotiable when you are writing about P&P. First of all, the story should be about Elizabeth and Darcy as they overcome societies concerns about class and money. In this story there is very little about these two, and they overcome very little. Secondly, I would like these two characters to be basically good people, who discover this goodness in each other, either at the beginning or end of the story, despite their misunderstandings, snobbishness or pride. In this book, they simply are who they are and neither mends their ways to show their true goodness. I didn't like either of them at the beginning, middle or end of the story. And, finally, I expect the author to understand some of the basic aspects of the original story and attempt to use most of it, and not vary everything, unless it is done tongue in cheek. How could Caroline Bingley have persuaded her brother to leave Netherfield when she herself had become a friend and admirer of Mrs. Bennet? How could Darcy have so disliked a woman like Mrs. Bennet who was talented and intelligent? Yes, I know we all find our parents embarrassing while teenagers, but Mrs. Bennet was talented, beautiful, and all knowing. Why did Elizabeth find her so embarrassing?

Then there were just little annoyances - like the entail. Does the author not understand an entail is the disposition of the property after a death? Mr. Bennet would not be personally affected by the entail because he had to be dead for it to be enacted. Pemberley - you can't take the afternoon to make a visit to Pemberley from London. It is a three day journey. Darcy - he might have been a sexist, but I wouldn't expect him to be worse than any other man in his era.

All in all, for me, this story was just too far from cannon to be interesting or amusing. If the book were written with other names and characters, I might have enjoyed it.

[Lynnette · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not Pride and Prejudice from Mrs. Bennett's perspective, but rather a rewritten and expanded version of Austen's work where the wit and charm of Austen's heroine is wholly erased. Salerno's heroine is, of course, Mrs. Bennett which is an intriguing perspective to consider the original story from, but that isn't what happens here. Instead, the interesting, varied, and compelling qualities of Austen's cast of characters are removed and we are left with flat and lifeless space-fillers orbiting around Mrs. Bennett.

Mrs. Bennett alone is in possession of good sense and foresight, making her both boring and unrelatable. She is as predictable as the plot line. She also has an anachronistically feminist perspective for the regency world she lives in that pulls the reader out of the story with trite twentieth century maxims.

It is a quick and easy read that I kept hoping would get better, but was disappointed when it just kept getting worse.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a response and a review to a review posted in April
The Allied victory at Waterloo in 1815 marked the end of the Napoleonic Era. There was a respite between the hostilities. Regency era 1811-1830
Lady Anne can be called Lady Anne. (See Downtown Abbey Lady Mary)
The author used the entail as a vehicle to move the story. If anyone saw her post on the Jane Austen Picture Wall and other JA sites about the new television adaptation about why she did it and how, it makes total sense.
The April reviewer talks about a Mrs. Bingley There is no Mrs Bingley that speaks in the book though Jane does marry.
This book is a fun read and shakes up our opinion about Mrs Bennet as a silly easily dismissed middle aged woman. She challenges class distinctions, misogyny of the time etc… The other points the April critic makes are basically absurd, that Lydia wouldn’t travel to see her family without her husband etc… My book club read this, and we are still having discussions about it. Because not much has changed. How many of us work in our own homes yet also have weekly help, but don’t invite them to family functions, graduations, weddings… even though they have worked with the family for years and know and love our children. How many of us have entitled husbands who retreat to their dens, watch sports or golf and leave all management of the household and children to the wife. How many of us are or were second shifters, working outside the home and then dealing with the entire management of the family. How many of us have dealt with the humiliation of a cheating spouse trying to accept or forgive or detach.
Mrs. Bennet’s Sentiments is a delightful read that hits home for many of us!

[Yas · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole story makes no sense.

The customs and rules of society of the beginning of the XIXth century are completely ignored by the author. Basic English geography is utterly upside-down. The original characters’ personalities are lost.
Mr Darcy, according to infuriating Mrs Bennet, is a cad. Strong willed, witty Elizabeth is spineless as is Mr Bennet...
Basically, Mrs Bennet, from her almighty mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper position, runs the show. She directs her husband to a point of humiliation, and he lets her. She advises her daughters on all and everything based on her sentiments rather than knowledge, and... they let her.
But one of the most insufferable bit, is the poor knowledge about entails.
Now, I am not an expert, but a simple research would have informed the author that entails cannot be "enacted" before the death of the current owner of the property... Hence, in Ms Jane Austen’s book, Mrs Bennet fretting about the prospect of Mr Bennet dueling with Mr Wickham and the possibility of the former being killed and her and her daughters being destitute as a result...

I had an inkling this book was not a Booker Prize, but I was looking for something light to listen to as I was driving. However, I was not expecting that level of bad. Even the vocabulary was not on point. And the level of annoyance it produced was such, I had to stop listening to it in order to keep my equanimity whilst driving.

I will conclude by confirming, I do not recommend this book.

[Eva Kenieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those of us who get exasperated with the feckless Mr. Bennet, hiding in his library instead of helping his daughters find husbands or professions, and with the Bennet girls themselves, who seem nearly indifferent to their own futures, will appreciate this Mrs. Bennet. In the original Austen novel, she's the only one who is trying to see her daughters secure, despite resistance and disdain from her entire family. In Salerno's re-imagining, Mrs. Bennet is more perceptive than Austen's version, and has aspirations of her own to be a painter even as she strives to get her daughters settled and happy.

I read this in a single day and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope Dori Salerno writes more Jane Austen variations!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly a variation, but one that keeps the reader’s interest. Mrs. Bennet is the main character and is really nothing like the Jane Austen Mrs. Bennet. The story basically involves the feminine struggle between duty and aspiration. This Mrs. Bennet is sensible and caring, and is even artistically talented. This story weaves its way through the trials of love with four of the Bennet girls, with marriage at the end for all but Mary, who has decided to become a scholar. The ending was a little disappointing with Mr. Bennet’s turn of emotion, but overall a very different yet interesting tale.

[Agnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Bennet’s Sentiments is a delightful new take on Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice, “
a bold idea that totally works. Carefully written in Austen’s signature style, I was immediately drawn into the story. I could feel the visceral anxiety Mrs. Bennet experiences as a harried, middle-aged mother, which can happen in ANY era. An excellent read. I enjoyed it so much, I may reread it, and I rarely reread any book!

[Jason Shaffner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel presents a beguiling premise: how would the story of Pride and Prejudice differ if told from the perspective of Mrs. Bennet? Instead of the somewhat flighty woman obsessed with marrying her daughters, Dori Salerno gives us a headstrong, ambitious Mrs. Bennett and an alternate history that in some ways augments or contradicts the original, before veering off into an extension of the story. There are many fun moments here, but in the end it goes too far -- Mrs. Bennet proves to be a miracle worker, curing anorexia and stammers, the puppet master pulling every string, and an accomplished painter (with a suggested role in the early Impressionism period). In the process, many of the best moments in Jane Austen's masterpiece are not just sent a bit topsy-turvy, but downright eviscerated. I miss the original Elizabeth Bennet, who is literally nowhere to be seen herein.

One other important issue is that some dimensions of Salerno's plot depend on a rather severe misunderstanding of the "entail" on the Bennet estate. Collins has no rights until Mr. Bennet dies (this is explicit in the original novel, even if the author is not fluent in English pre-Victorian property laws).

There is also a lot riding on Mr. Bennet's poetry, and a suggestion that he had failed in his attempts at earning money. But in the era of the novel, a rich heir such as Mr. Bennet would not need to work, nor would he be expected to work. He has a strong annual income from his inheritance -- unfortunately, he has not stewarded that income well because he just expected there would be a son eventually... Whoops!

These may be minor academic points, but given the target audience, they matter.

Still, all that said -- I enjoyed the experience and the new perspective on a favorite masterpiece...

[Robert S]

I loved this version of Mrs. Bennet. I have a soft spot for her and her nerves. Mrs Bennet has a lot to put her nerves on edge having to marry off 5 girls with little dowry and we all know Mr Bennett prefers to close the door to his study to crack open a book than to do much of anything useful. No wonder Mrs Bennet is overcome with nerves.The author of this book did a fantastic job of showing how little respect Mrs Bennet receives. It is so refreshing. I think anyone who is in a committed relationship can understand her frustrations. Her kindness and wisdom are readily apparent to all but her own family members. Mrs Bennet follows the beat of her own drum in the end reminding us all to be true to ourselves.If you are a Mrs. Bennet fan, this one is for you.

Read this review on amazon and I am re-posting it as I feel it is "spot on" My reaction to the book was the same. The author does take a chance portraying Mr. Darcy as not quite the romantic figure we are all familiar with, here he is a snobby, stuffed shirt with strong misogynist views which makes for a lively debate with the spunky Mrs. Bennet.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short answer is that this book was just OK. If you want to know what COULD happen after the end of P&P leaves off, this is one way it could go and I liked it. It was a creative ending giving Mrs. Bennet some 21st Century girlpower that she never would have had in her century. The problem is that it completely changes her and her hubby into artists (her: painting, him: writing) into the gentleman farmer that he was. It also changes her character completely. She's known for always saying everything too loudly at the wrong time and not caring what others think (which is where I think that Lydia gets a lot of her attitudes from). The author makes Mrs. B into a thoughtful, delightful, problem-solving, listener who cares about everyone in a delightful way. She just wasn't like that in P&P which is what makes Elizabeth such a heroine. In this, Elizabeth is not the heroine at all and neither is Darcy. In the end, I'm OK with giving her talent she never had in the book but don't change her demeanor as if she's an entirely new person.

[Nanci Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you have ever found yourself wondering what happens to the other characters in a favorite book. If so, and if you are a Jane Austen fan, then you will enjoy this journey into the life of the delightfully put upon Mrs. Bennet, as explored in Ms. Salerno’s Mrs. Bennet’s Sentiments: Pride, and Prejudice and Perseverance. Times and family life have not change so much that you will not recognize the repercussions of teenage angst that fall squarely on mom’s shoulders and the lack of appreciation for her talents that appear to be hidden only from the minds of those who should be most supportive of them. I loved the patience and forward thinking of this quiet, yet not to be trifled with woman, so in her time and yet ahead of it . . . you will enjoy her solutions to the perplexing dilemmas of her day that a modern day woman can only applaud and commend.

[Marjie Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Receiving this delightful book as a gift was a wonderful surprise. I know several middle-aged with moxie and easily identified with Mrs. Bennet's personality. The challenges of being a strong women during her era are very well portrayed. Her solutions were constrained by society but the conclusion was hopeful and a testament to her character, determination and creativity.