Imagine Being Mysteriously Transplanted Into Your Favorite Story!
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Source: Review Copy from Author
Modern-day wife and mother Alison Bateman is an ardent fan of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice, and similar to that book’s matriarch, she has five daughters (and yes, they all have the same names, but that began more coincidentally than intentionally). However, unlike Mrs. Bennet, Alison Bateman is sensible, calm, and loves all her daughters equally. Unexpectedly, Alison finds herself transplanted into the pages of Pride and Prejudice, but instead of having a chance to be the heroine of the tale and fall in love with Mr. Darcy, Alison instead becomes the heroine’s mother and finds herself in the role of the noisy, small-minded nerve-obsessed Mrs. Bennet. But Alison still has control of her actions and thoughts, so perhaps she is becoming the heroine of her own Pride and Prejudice adventure after all…
Yes! What fun! I love Austen-inspired body swap stories! There have been many that have readers or modern-day women change places with someone in Jane Austen’s time: Attempting Elizabeth, Ditching Mr. Darcy, Searching for Captain Wentworth, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict to name a few. But this is the first time I’ve seen a reader step into the story as Mrs. Bennet! It seems an unconventional choice, yet at the same time a brilliant one as supplanting Mrs. Bennet can produce such dramatic changes in the lives of many of the story’s characters.
I immediately liked Alison Bateman at the beginning of the story, she is a no nonsense kind of mother and I loved seeing her happy yet-not-perfect relationships with her daughters and husband. And I grew to like her even more as she steps into the role of Mrs. Bennet with relish and determination. With actions that would be make any Janeite applaud Alison makes it her mission to work on Lydia Bennet! Woot woot! Attagirl, Alison! Readers cannot help but cheer her on as she goes toe-to-toe with spoiled and petulant Lydia!
And Alison doesn’t just stop there, she pays attention to all her daughters and provides what they need – whether it be notice, encouragement, or gentle steering in the right direction. It was heartwarming and oh-so-satisfying to see such harmonious and happy relationships amongst the Bennet family. I especially enjoyed witnessing the relationship develop between Mr. Bennet and Alison Bateman – I appreciated her initial exasperation and distance with him, and it was lovely to see Mr. Bennet’s reaction towards Alison and how he feels about his altered “wife.”
I really enjoyed seeing Alison adapt to her supposed “character” and experience all aspects of living in Jane Austen’s time. She makes Janeites proud as she does not make any terrible social blunders or speak with modern slang. Instead, she puts her Regency knowledge to good use while still adhering to her own natural habits and proclivities, such as: preferring not to take laudanum, having a penchant for morning walks, and requesting a bath whenever possible. (I don’t blame you Alison, I would do the same!) In addition, I absolutely loved seeing how Alison fan-girled at significant moments in Pride and Prejudice – such as meeting Elizabeth Bennet for the first time, visiting Pemberley, the Lady Catherine showdown.
My only small quibble for this book would perhaps be (SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT!) the moments when Alison revealed some things she shouldn’t. And even though she regrets what she revealed, I do sort’ve wished she didn’t do that in the first place. It would have been interesting to see how the story would have progressed without that knowledge being shared, but at the same time, I do understand why it might not have been possible.
With Being Mrs. Bennet, Alexa Adams once again delivers a well-crafted and inventive Austen-inspired tale that is very deserving of recognition and praise! A fantasy-filled adventure that is as diverting as it is astute! We definitely recommend!
This sounds wonderful. I love time travel books so will definitely be ordering this one. Fabulous review Meredith, thank you.
Wonderful! I’m so glad to hear that! Happy reading and thank you for checking out my review!
Looks really fun! Love all of Alexa’s previous books too.
Me too, Colleen! I hope you love this one as much as I did!
I love Alexa’s writing so I am certain I will love this book too. Thanks for the lovely review.
I’m sure you will too! Hope you get the chance to read it soon!
What a lovely review Meredith! This is the only book of Alexa’s that I haven’t read yet but it is on my list. I look forward to reading it even more now as I can’t wait to see how she sorts out Lydia!
Thank you, Glynis! You will definitely cheer during that section! 😉 Hope you get the chance to read it soon!
What a great idea! JAFF is usually concerned with the younger characters. It’s so refreshing to have Mrs Bennet take centre stage – or at least a modern mother in her body, which is a lovely twist. Sounds like a fab read. Another one to add to the TBR pile! Thanks Meredith. ☺️
So true! It was such a fun and unique twist and I’m really glad Alexa Adams explored it! Hope you enjoy reading this one when you get the chance!
It was a fun read but there was a part of it that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Don’t want to say anything that constitutes a spoiler.
I might now what you are talking about and I do understand feeling slightly uncomfortable during those events. I think it was handled well and explained well though.
Loved this book. I laughed so hard while reading it, Thanks for a great review.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! It definitely had some funny moments!
Yay, I’m glad you loved it. I still have this one to read so I have high anticipations. 🙂
Awesome! I hope you get the chance to read it soon!
I cant wait to read it. This book is defenetly going on my to read list.
Awesome! Hope you love it as much as I did!
Thank you so much for the great review, Meredith! I hadn’t heard of this one and it sounds positively delightful. I too love body-swap and time travel stories so this one seems right up my alley. Must add to my TBR pile!
Awesome!! I think you will enjoy this one a lot, Lori! Alexa does a fantastic job with the body swap experience.
I read and enjoyed this story also. It was highly rated by me, too. Great review, Meredith.
Thanks, Sheila! I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
Ooh, your review is filling my mind with imaginative possibilities. Cheers to the author for coming up with such a fruitful idea!
Yes! It is very well done and I love all the thoughtful ways Alexa explored Mrs. Bennet’s character and relationships.
Thanks for this thorough and thoughtful review! I’m looking forward to reading the book soon!
Yay! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
Hello Meredith and thank you so much for the wonderful review! I thought I had already commented, but apparently it didn’t go through, so I’m trying again. I always love reading your posts, but I get a special
thrill when I remember that this is my book about which you write! I so appreciate the support, especially as I have terribly neglected the marketing of this book baby for the human baby in my life (and he flourishes, so a worthy trade). I’m so pleased that many of the commentors have read and enjoyed Mrs. Bennet. Enormous love and gratitude to you all!
My pleasure, Alexa!! Thank you so very much for writing such a diverting and unique story! And for the lovely opportunity to read it!! I’m so happy to hear that your new baby is doing well!! Hugs!
This book languished around my wish list since it first came out. And the one and only review I read on another site, (have forgotten it) made it sound great fun. I’m so glad you liked this book Meredith, since it sounds amazing. I love the Alexa Adams books I’ve read so far, and there’s a bunch more that sound good too. But ‘Being Mrs. Bennet’ moves to the front of the list and I’ll read that one first.
Much joy and many blessings on your baby boy project, Alexa. And best of luck on this book baby!
Yay! I can’t wait to hear what you think of it! I’m so happy I finally got the chance to read it! Such a fun story and so well done!
Lovely review Meredith! This was definitely one of my favourite books from 2018. It was completely different from anything I had ever read and I absolutely loved everything about it! But I do agree with you in regards to Allison revealing a certain thing. I would also have preferred if that hadn’t happen.