The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet

Gr 7 Up—Everyone knows Pride and Prejudice is Elizabeth Bennet's story. Sister Lydia wants to change that. Farrant's enticing book, written to evoke Austen's style without attempting to replicate it, gives readers "the rest of the story." Lydia might have been portrayed as a flibbertigibbet in the source material, memorable for eloping with the charming scoundrel Mr. Wickham, but here she presents her take. Readers are introduced to the youngest Bennet's wonderfully snarky personality as she, naively at times, lays open English society in 1811. The 15-year-old may be flighty and immature, but her diary entries illustrate that societal structure and mores can be held responsible. Women had well-defined roles, and society did not look kindly on those who defied them. Adventurous Lydia longs to ride fast, learn to shoot, and see the world beyond Hertfordshire. Instead, she is viewed as a marriage commodity by a mother desperate to ensure her family's financial security. Lydia is aware that she was denied an education because her family considers her looks and disposition her chief assets. When she sneaks into a library in search of reading material to impress a young man, readers sense that although her motives are shallow, this encounter with literature may not be her last. In the despicable Wickham, Lydia finds a kindred spirit, someone who has the potential to open worlds to her.