Everyone knows the story of Elizabeth Bennet, who married Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. But what about Elizabeth’s sister Mary? Master storyteller Colleen McCullough imagines a life for Mary Bennet twenty years after the events of Jane Austen’s novel. Twenty years on, each of Mary’s four sisters is settled in her own way: Jane has a happy marriage and a large family; Lizzie and Mr Darcy have a formidable social reputation; Lydia has a reputation of quite another kind; and Kitty is in demand in London’s fashionable salons. Mary, however, is a changed woman, and newly independent of family obligations. Now she is afire with resolve - to publish a book revealing the ills of England and the plight of the poor. But the travels she undertakes to research her book will put her life in danger - and ultimately deliver her to the man who inspired her.

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet is both a page-turning adventure and a cracking romance, and a novel for every woman who has wanted to leave her mark on the world.