Awkward, plain and overlooked, Mary Bennet has long been out of favor not only with her own family but with generations of readers of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. But what was this peculiar girl really doing while her sisters were falling in love? As, one by one, Mary’s sisters get married, she hatches a plan. If the world won’t give this fierce, lonely girl a place, she’ll carve one out herself. In a desperate bid to avoid becoming a burden on her family or, worse, married to a controlling man, Mary does what any bright, intrepid girl would do. She takes to the attic and teaches herself to reanimate the dead. If finding acceptance requires a husband, she’ll get one…even if she has to make him herself. However, Mary’s genius and determination aren’t enough to control the malevolent force that she unwittingly unleashes.

In this exuberant retelling of Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves, Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs. But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns. Her best-loved sister, Kitty, is really a barn cat. Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would one expect from a demon? And if Mr. Darcy is uptight about etiquette, that’s nothing compared to his feelings about magic. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that for a witch, promises have power.