Would you like to escape into a companion story to Pride and Prejudice? Look no further than Janice Hadlow's wonderful novel The Other Bennet Sister. Hadlow masterfully gives new life and direction to Mary Bennet — the often-overlooked sister originally written as a figure of ridicule. We talk about how Mary develops as a character and eventually finds love.

We're joined by author and Austen expert Paula Byrne, whose insights into Austen's world help us explore how Hadlow skillfully weaves together threads from Pride and Prejudice and early 19th-century society to create a fresh, moving portrait of what it meant to be "plain" and without prospects, and how (like it or not) we are all a little like Mary.

To learn more about Paula Byrne and her work, visit paulabyrne.com.