Miss Bennet's First Christmas (A Bennet Wardrobe Story ) By Don Jacobson
He also published Lessers and Betters a novel length Pride and Prejudice variation which contains the paired novellas Of Fortune s Reversal and The Maid and The Footman These two works examine the same event the mysterious attack on Kitty Bennet in Hyde Park on Guy Fawkes Day 1815 from two different perspectives that of the gentry and that of the servants. Meryton Press published two of his books in 2020 In Plain Sight June and The Longbourn Quarantine August Meryton Press also agreed to republish his entire self published catalog The Bennet Wardrobe series and Lessers and Betters throughout 2021. Jacobson holds an advanced degree in History with a specialty in American Foreign Relations As a college instructor.
Mary Bennet has only been Miss Bennet for a fortnight when disaster strikes Meryton in this story of Christmas 1811 Without any of her sisters remaining at Longbourn Mary is early in her transformation from the one dimensional troubled young woman portrayed in Pride and Prejudice into a profoundly empathetic character guided by her faith During her efforts to assist the wounded of her home village she encounters and is swept off her feet by a stranger who knows about Meryton her family and even Mary herself than any person has the right to know The young man Edward Benton also conceals a mystery that has been held close for nearly 125 years Many of the familiar faces from P P appear throughout this story Mary Mr and Mrs Bennet Lizzie and Darcy Jane and Bingley Georgiana Darcy and Richard Fitzwilliam to keep the story moving along This story is the first entry into a new world of JAFF which builds upon the greatest novel of all time Miss Bennet s First Christmas A Bennet Wardrobe Story This novella is the first I ve read of this series of Wardrobe books It is a well constructed short story which also serves as a companion piece to The Keeper Mary Bennet s Extraordinary Journey. In the Prologue we learn that Mr Bennet keeps a wardrobe in his study with magical time travel properties and a visitor arrives But as Chapter 1 begins a devastating fire just has broken out in Meryton and the Bennets help is solicited Mr Bennet uncharacteristically immediately takes charge and barks orders to his wife and Mary Jane Elizabeth and Lydia are already married and Kitty has been sent away to seminary school The rest of the story focuses on Mary s experiences facing the fire searching for her Aunt and Uncle Phillips in Meryton tending to the dying burned and wounded and to orphaned children During this hellish time she encounters Mr Benton Due to the unusual circumstances they interact without artificial societal restraint and develop feelings for each other very quickly. The romance is only introduced here and I presume will be a major focus of the full length Wardrobe book about Mary This is of a character study It explains how and why Mary already has changed since her sisters marriages The fire is a pivotal event that contributes to the evolution of an improved relationship with her father and mother as well as the hope of a future with Mr Benton It also surprisingly brings a child into the Bennet family which has an effect on Mrs Bennet s character. I appreciated the elements of spiritual faith reflected in the story The contrast presented between Mary s bookish past and the way she actively lives her faith in the present is nicely done It was also lovely to read how people from all social classes work together in this crisis situation The writing is very good although italics are used too often and become distracting Kindle Edition A quick introduction for me into the A Bennet Wardrobe series with the Bennet middle child Mary Bennet Jacobson does a a remarkable job in expanding the story of this Pride and Prejudice tertiary character within this clever short story Looking forward to my binge read for this series Kindle Edition This novella is fully contained within The Keeper by the same author Skip this one and go straight to the full story of Mary Bennet Kindle Edition Although I am not much of a reader of books involving time travel I picked up Mr Jacobson s story out of curiosity The only thing I did not like about it was the fact that the story must continue in another book and I have yet to know of Mary Bennet and Edward Benton s fates There are some typos and a few split infinitives that caught my eye You father will explain she might felt alright to adequately care to closely follow and to be alternately regaled Kindle Edition Miss Bennet s First Christmas A Bennet Wardrobe StoryThis was an excellent story of Mary Bennet coming into her own Mary was not the sermon quoting girl that she had been With three sisters married and Kitty in a seminary for her part in Lydia s unfortunate behavior Mary had become useful and craved to help where she could The household of three and their servants were awaken by a young boy asking for help in Meryton because the town was on fire and everyone needed to help The master of Longbourn issued orders that could shame Colonel Fitzwilliam The servants did as they are were told and the young stable boys are were sent to rouse the tenants Mr Bennet expected Mrs Bennet to help too But when she came downstairs she was dressed if she was visiting the Queen Mr Bennet knew she would be better at home cooking for the people without a home and the courageous men fight the blaze Mary s job was to help at the makeshift hospital but got to thinking about her Aunt and Uncle Philips and turned towards the Philips home As she is standing in the street the five story factory was aflame and when the roof collapses tendrils of fire shoot out towards Mary She s grab from behind and move away from the building to safety His name is Edward Benton The elder Mr Benton was friends with Thomas Bennet while in Cambridge Edward is passing through to Liverpool to catch a ship going to Boston Mary helped so many on the parade grounds that people dubbed her The Lady of the Field for her aid and kindness Seeing little children wandering around and two infants in their dead mothers arms Mary takes them to Longbourn to put them in the nursery Edward stays hidden in the shadows Mrs Bennet completely takes over the infant boy She s named him Little Eddie for the lost half uncle from Book 1 She has dropped her nerves and silliness right before their eyes She s decided to approach Mr Bennet in his library She wants to adopt the boy and raise him Both agreed that they would worry about the entail later Mr Bennet gave Mary the best Christmas present ever and although still playing the pianoforte Georgiana Darcy sat with her fingers poised above hers without missing a beat Mary had a life of her own filled with love Kindle Edition 
Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years His output has ranged from news and features to advertising television and radio His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards He has previously published five books all non fiction He now exclusively writes Austenesque fiction In 2016 he published The Keeper Mary Bennet s Extraordinary Journey which began the Bennet Wardrobe saga Subsequent books in the series include Henry Fitzwilliams War e novelette 2016 The Exile Kitty Bennet and the Belle Epoch 2017 Lizzy Bennet Meets the Countess 2017 The Exile The countess Visits Longbourn 2018 The Avenger Thomas Bennet and a Fathers Lament 2018 The Pilgrim Lydia Bennet and a Soldiers Portion 2019 The Grail T Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years His output has ranged from news and features to advertising television and radio His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards He has previously published five books all non fiction He now exclusively writes Austenesque fiction In 2016 he published The Keeper Mary Bennet s Extraordinary Journey which began the Bennet Wardrobe saga Subsequent books in the series include Henry Fitzwilliam s War e novelette 2016 The Exile Kitty Bennet and the Belle Epoch 2017 Lizzy Bennet Meets the Countess 2017 The Exile The countess Visits Longbourn 2018 The Avenger Thomas Bennet and a Father s Lament 2018 The Pilgrim Lydia Bennet and a Soldier s Portion 2019 The Grail The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy 2022 His entry in the North and South AnthologyFalling for Mr Thornton entitled Cinders and Smokewas released in November 2019. He lives in Las Vegas NV with his wife and co author Pam Roadcookin A long haul driver s guide to healthy eating a woman Ms Austen would have been hard pressed to categorize and their rather assertive four and twenty pound cat Bear Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the JAFF world Don also enjoys cooking Poulet au vinaigre is a particular favorite dining out fine wine and well aged scotch whiskey Glenmorangie 18 Year Old single malt the water of life His other passion is cycling Most days from April through October will find him putting in the miles He has ridden several centuries 100 mile days Don is especially proud that he successfully completed the AIDS Ride Midwest 500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago and the Make A Wish Miracle Ride 300 miles from Traverse City MI to Brooklyn MI site_link If you have read The Keeper by Mr Jacobson you will find this story within it s pages It is a very moving and fast paced story that strikes at your heart and has you viewing Mary Bennet in a whole new light If you wish to give the Bennet Wardrobe series a peek before fully committing then this story is for you I however had first read The Keeper and for some reason was expecting this to be a further expansion or added content that wasn t in The Keeper I wont say that I was disappointed as the story is so well done This is where Mary Bennet encounters Edward Benton for the first time and both are profoundly impacted Kindle Edition.