If you devoured Janice Hadlow's The Other Bennet Sister and found yourself wishing for more stories that give overlooked women their long-overdue moment in the sun, a certain screen adaptation may well become your newest obsession.
A Jane Austen-inspired production has been quietly accumulating the kind of glowing, near-flawless critical reception that any devoted reader of Austen's work would recognise as the highest compliment — the sense that someone has truly understood what lies beneath the wit and the drawing-room manners. That rare combination of fidelity to Austen's spirit and genuine creative courage is, after all, what made Hadlow's reimagining of Mary Bennet so deeply satisfying to fans.
Austen's genius has always rested on her ability to illuminate the interior lives of women society preferred to ignore. Adaptations that honour that quality — rather than simply reproducing the bonnets and the ballrooms — have a way of resonating far beyond their initial audience, finding new admirers with every passing season.
Whether you are a lifelong devotee who can recite the opening of Pride and Prejudice from memory, or a newcomer still finding your way through Pemberley's corridors, this is precisely the sort of production worth seeking out. The perfect rating is a promising beginning — but the real recommendation, as Austen herself might have suggested, comes from the quality of its feeling.
We will have further details on the title and where to watch it very shortly, so do keep an eye on Austen.com for the full recommendation.