To Buy or Not to Buy: The Forgotten Sister by Jennifer Paynter

Well, as I've said before, I loves me some Jane Austen stories. Since she can't possibly write anymore unless from beyond the grave, I have to get my Austen fix from other sources. I am always scouting around for more Austenesque stories, but not the Elizabeth and Darcy stories, you know, like Pemberley Ever After (Okay, so I made that name up), but you know what I mean. I don't like the stories that are written to sound like an extension of Austen's books. I like the stories that are written with the author's unique voice, something different. While I am in continual search of new ways to tell Jane Austen stories and new authors doing the telling, I have to say, some stories are a hit and some a definite miss, but that's a different posting which I haven't done in a while. This one is To Buy or Not to Buy.

The Forgotten Sister by Jennifer Paynter

Book Description (From Amazon):
Publication Date: January 14, 2014

The third Bennet sister, Mary, steps into the spotlight in this graceful retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

As a middle child flanked by two pairs of closely bonded sisters, marginalized by her mother, and ridiculed by her father, Mary Bennet feels isolated within her own family. She retreats to her room to read and play the pianoforte and, when obliged to mix in society, finds it safer to quote platitudes from books rather than express her real opinions. She also finds it safer to befriend those who are socially “beneath” her. When wealthy Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley glide into her sisters’ lives, Mary becomes infatuated with an impoverished young musician, the son of her old wet-nurse, who plays the fiddle at the Meryton assemblies.

It is only after her sisters tease her about her “beau with the bow” that Mary is forced to examine her real feelings and confront her own brand of pride and prejudice.

An elegant accompaniment to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, The Forgotten Sister plucks the neglected Mary from obscurity and beautifully reveals her hopes and dreams.

My First Impression:
The book starts out with Mary Bennet describing her sister’s personalities. She also talks of her mother, father, aunts and uncles. It’s also rather boring. While I do love Jane Austen’s novels and re-imaginings of her stories, I have never cared overmuch for Mary, Kitty or Lydia. So, I don’t know what possessed me to download this sample and give it a try. There’s not much more I can say about it.

Decision?
Not to buy…ever.