Edmund Bertram's Diary

Edmund Bertram's Diary. Amanda Grange. 2007/2008. Penguin. 304 pages.

Tuesday 8 July
Tom was eager to try out his new horse's paces and so we rode out together this morning, jumping walls and hedges, until he was satisfied he had made a good bargain.

I enjoyed Amanda Grange's retelling of Mansfield Park through the diary of Edmund Bertram. Edmund Bertram isn't always the wisest or brightest hero, but, his genuine friendship for Fanny Price is clear throughout the novel. The romance between Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram has always bothered me slightly. At least in Austen's novel, perhaps because Edmund Bertram's reformation or change of heart was so rushed, the "romance" being almost an afterthought thrown into the last few pages of the novel.

I thought Amanda Grange did a good job with in in this adaptation. For readers see that the love and affection is genuine, sincere. That Edmund does truly care for Fanny Price in that way, and that she feels exactly the same way about him. That he isn't marrying her out of duty or desperation, that Fanny is the one for him, and that he should have been miserable without her by his side.

Grange also did a good job with the other characters, particularly with Mary Crawford and Fanny Price. It would have perhaps been difficult to create a sympathetic Henry Crawford within this novel or adaptation. Though I would LOVE to see her try in another book--diary or not.

I love Amanda Grange's novels. I love her adaptations. While I've loved others a bit more, I still really enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

Read Edmund Bertram's Diary

• If you liked Mansfield Park by Jane Austen OR even if you didn't particularly "like" it (the change of perspective might make it easier for you to enjoy)
• If you are a fan of Jane Austen and/or Amanda Grange
• If you like novels in diary format
• If you like historical romance

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews