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The Beresfords
Raised with four older stepcousins in a conservative, churchgoing family, Frannie Price teeters on the brink of adolescence in the summer of 1985. Her timidity and awkwardness make her easy to overlook, yet she has one true friend in her cousin Jonathan. Jonathan, her childhood champion and the best person she knows. But when the Grant twins enter her life, Frannie’s world turns upside down. Not only does the sly and charming Eric Grant set her girl cousins against each other, but his flirtatious sister makes off with Jonathan’s heart. Only Frannie sees the faults running beneath the family landscape—not that anyone’s asking her opinion. Not her strict Uncle Paul, not her beloved Jonathan, and certainly not the Grants, who, after having their way with the rest of the Beresfords, turn their sights on her. What’s a girl to do? And why does she feel, in this uncharted territory, like God left her at the border?With sympathy, humor and more than a nod to Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park , The Beresfords chronicles Frannie’s coming of age, when all around her is coming apart.
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2012
59 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Christina Dudley
28 books266 followersChristina Hwang Dudley is the author of clean historical and contemporary romance.
Her historical romances include the Hapgoods of Bramleigh and Ellsworth Assortment series of Regency romances, including THE NATURALIST and TEMPTED BY FOLLY.
In contemporary romance, her forthcoming PRIDE AND PRESTON LIN (Third State Books, 2024) riffs on Austen, but this time the story is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Asian American protagonists who hail from different ends of the economic spectrum.
Her historical romances include the Hapgoods of Bramleigh and Ellsworth Assortment series of Regency romances, including THE NATURALIST and TEMPTED BY FOLLY.
In contemporary romance, her forthcoming PRIDE AND PRESTON LIN (Third State Books, 2024) riffs on Austen, but this time the story is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Asian American protagonists who hail from different ends of the economic spectrum.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 29, 2012
Being fourteen is never easy – still in your awkward stage, feeling misunderstood, falling for your first crush, etc. And for Frannie Price it is an even more trying time because she is painfully shy, insecure, and harboring a secret and possibly inappropriate crush on her step-cousin, Jonathan. But what really makes the summer of her fourteenth year really unbearable is Caroline and Eric Grant. From the moment she met the quick-witted, charming, and vibrant siblings, Frannie knew they were trouble. She knew that they would enchant, distract, and negatively influence all the Beresford siblings, but what could she do about it? She was just a poor relation with a drug-addict mother, taken in by her aunt's wealthy husband and family...
Starting her tale during the summer of 1985, Frannie tells us the story of that fateful summer and continues to chronicle the lives of the Beresfords for the next several years. Through Frannie's impressions and insights readers are able to witness her true thoughts, hidden emotions, and silent pain. This establishes an intimate connection to the heroine and perhaps makes her seem less “priggish” and “insipid” as her Regency counterpart is sometimes described...
Oh. My. Word. This modern adaptation of Mansfield Park is just BRILLAINT! I can't imagine it being easy to plausibly and thoughtfully translate Jane Austen's most controversial novel and least loved heroine into a contemporary time period. But with Christina Dudley's clever updates, engaging characters, and creative modifications, she makes it seem like an effortless endeavor.
To continue reading, go to: http://janeaustenreviews.blogspot.com...
Starting her tale during the summer of 1985, Frannie tells us the story of that fateful summer and continues to chronicle the lives of the Beresfords for the next several years. Through Frannie's impressions and insights readers are able to witness her true thoughts, hidden emotions, and silent pain. This establishes an intimate connection to the heroine and perhaps makes her seem less “priggish” and “insipid” as her Regency counterpart is sometimes described...
Oh. My. Word. This modern adaptation of Mansfield Park is just BRILLAINT! I can't imagine it being easy to plausibly and thoughtfully translate Jane Austen's most controversial novel and least loved heroine into a contemporary time period. But with Christina Dudley's clever updates, engaging characters, and creative modifications, she makes it seem like an effortless endeavor.
To continue reading, go to: http://janeaustenreviews.blogspot.com...
April 17, 2021
I loved it. I absolutely, no fooling, no if ands or buts, LOVED The Beresfords to pieces!
I've always known, from the moment I fell in love with MP in 2018, that an adaptation (in any form or setting) by someone who actually liked both Mansfield Park and Fanny Price AND understood what the book and characters were really about would be perfection.
And I suffered through every dang author trying to "improve" or "reimagine" Mansfield Park into something it just wasn't. Mostly it seems authors want Fanny to be a feminist and throw herself into Henry Crawford's arms, sobbing her enteral burning passion. How on earth they find those two things compatible, I don't know... My personal theory is it's an advanced cognitive dissonance and a whole lot of repressed issues when it comes to lover ideals...
Anywho...
Goodness also knows I've made no secret of my adoration for the YA adaptation, Seeking Mansfield, and its equally cute sequel Shoot The Moon (my dislike of Alex Wolf aside), but even that, despite coming closer than 90% of attempts to capture the original and being very faithful in its own way, had the issue of trying to change the main theme of MP by highlighting a more minor point.
Mansfield Park isn't about a girl who "found her voice", it's about a girl who finally got people to listen to what she said all along; through patience and kindness, she won. It's Austen's Cinderella Story. But true Cinderella heroines are so out of style these days, even when they are used, or hinted at, it's with an apologetic tone. Even modern afterwards and forwards to Mansfield Park sort of read "Sorry, you're about to read/just read Mansfield Park, and you're probably not gonna like/didn't like it or Fanny, whoops!"
But with The Beresfords, remarkably, this isn't the case. Fanny gets a dedication that while gentle isn't apologetic, and her character rather than being changed for a more modern telling is simply zoomed in on for a closer look.
Frannie tells the story in her own words and is so in character, even when she's being downright hilarious, you'd swear everyone who's been saying Austen's Fanny has no wit compared to Mary Crawford just hasn't been listening/paying attention.
And not only Fanny, but EVERYONE feels understood in this telling. They are just what they were in the original simply brought into a more modern world.
Tom especially was amazing, how Dudley managed to pluck him out of the Regency Era and turn him into an eighties bad boy without losing any of his core characteristics.
I liked how realistic his relationship was with Frannie, too. He acts like she's a pest until after his accident where you can see he really respects her. And while there's still room for an eagle-eyed Tom/Fanny shipper to ship away (his defending her, their bizarrely compatible senses of humour, how he was legit about to take her with him on his honeymoon, the fact that the Uncle was about ready to force Tom to dump his girlfriend and propose if his younger brother struck out...), it just felt so right somehow that there wasn't any overt romantic tension between them. Don't get me wrong, I was all about Tate hitting on Finley in Seeking Mansfield, but this was more believable, especially given the age difference.
And Edmund (Jonathan) was just perfection.
Just... Oh, God, what a heart-aching romance! The next time someone tells me Edmund and Fanny are not a romantic couple, are somehow not as love worthy as Lizzie and Darcy, I'm going to throw a copy of The Beresfords at their heads.
In this version, Edmund/Jonathan actually marries Mary (called Caroline Grant in this telling) at one point and an underage Fanny is forced to watch, unable to say anything or confess her love.
I was dying for her to pull a (pre crazy woke) Taylor Swift and be all Speak Now, but at the same time I knew she COULDN'T and there was so much angst and feels...
I half expected Frannie to turn into sea foam like the little mermaid after the prince's wedding.
So when, after everything, after Love, Rosie levels of missed chances and ships passing in the night, we get a gorgeous love confession scene between Jonathan and Frannie, it's just oh so wonderful.
*Coughs*
Can we use the GOOD screen adaptation?
There we go.
As for Henry Crawford (Eric Grant), I loved how he was handled. Firstly, his crap behavior isn't romanticized. What he does, to Frannie and her cousins, is in no way softened or excused, nor is he rewarded, but we are given just the littlest bit of hope at the end that he might just learn not to be a total garbage person and that's rather nice.
Even original characters not included in the original JA novel got treated incredibly well. I half expected Tammy to just be a comedy gag, more stereotype than proper character, but she despite being cray cray was handled respectfully and got a happy ending and wasn't just there to be laughed at. I even rather liked her, because Frannie did.
This is still how I imagine her, though, can't help it:
And how I imagine she reacted in private to Jonathan going after Caroline instead of her:
As an aside, the part where Frannie isn't sure which one of Tom's friends Julie married was hilarious. I just didn't know where else in the review to get that in.
Oh and, aside number two, wasn't it oddly comforting that the Mr. Norris character doesn't die in this?
The plot was faithful to MP without being married to it letter of the law. We didn't have to have the characters in a play just because that's what the original did, for instance, and that was a surprisingly great change of pace. I loved how it became The Beresfords and the Grants going gambling and leaving Frannie behind to be found alone by Uncle Paul upon his return from China. Just fit the time period better.
Honestly, this book had an easy road to impress me, given my last modern Mansfield Park read was pretty awful (Parked At The Mansfields') complete with OCD Mrs. Norris, Extra horny Tom, and a Fanny who talks like Tarzan, but it did so much more than that; it completely blew me away. I loved every second, every page, every twist and turn, everybody's happy ending, so, so much.
I was wondering what to expect with this one, would it be the Pureflix version of MP? Or something I could take more seriously?
The latter.
It was a marvel.
I will have to check out more books by this author in future, because she NAILED retelling Mansfield Park.
Highest, completely unreserved recommendation!
I've always known, from the moment I fell in love with MP in 2018, that an adaptation (in any form or setting) by someone who actually liked both Mansfield Park and Fanny Price AND understood what the book and characters were really about would be perfection.
And I suffered through every dang author trying to "improve" or "reimagine" Mansfield Park into something it just wasn't. Mostly it seems authors want Fanny to be a feminist and throw herself into Henry Crawford's arms, sobbing her enteral burning passion. How on earth they find those two things compatible, I don't know... My personal theory is it's an advanced cognitive dissonance and a whole lot of repressed issues when it comes to lover ideals...
Anywho...
Goodness also knows I've made no secret of my adoration for the YA adaptation, Seeking Mansfield, and its equally cute sequel Shoot The Moon (my dislike of Alex Wolf aside), but even that, despite coming closer than 90% of attempts to capture the original and being very faithful in its own way, had the issue of trying to change the main theme of MP by highlighting a more minor point.
Mansfield Park isn't about a girl who "found her voice", it's about a girl who finally got people to listen to what she said all along; through patience and kindness, she won. It's Austen's Cinderella Story. But true Cinderella heroines are so out of style these days, even when they are used, or hinted at, it's with an apologetic tone. Even modern afterwards and forwards to Mansfield Park sort of read "Sorry, you're about to read/just read Mansfield Park, and you're probably not gonna like/didn't like it or Fanny, whoops!"
But with The Beresfords, remarkably, this isn't the case. Fanny gets a dedication that while gentle isn't apologetic, and her character rather than being changed for a more modern telling is simply zoomed in on for a closer look.
Frannie tells the story in her own words and is so in character, even when she's being downright hilarious, you'd swear everyone who's been saying Austen's Fanny has no wit compared to Mary Crawford just hasn't been listening/paying attention.
And not only Fanny, but EVERYONE feels understood in this telling. They are just what they were in the original simply brought into a more modern world.
Tom especially was amazing, how Dudley managed to pluck him out of the Regency Era and turn him into an eighties bad boy without losing any of his core characteristics.
I liked how realistic his relationship was with Frannie, too. He acts like she's a pest until after his accident where you can see he really respects her. And while there's still room for an eagle-eyed Tom/Fanny shipper to ship away (his defending her, their bizarrely compatible senses of humour, how he was legit about to take her with him on his honeymoon, the fact that the Uncle was about ready to force Tom to dump his girlfriend and propose if his younger brother struck out...), it just felt so right somehow that there wasn't any overt romantic tension between them. Don't get me wrong, I was all about Tate hitting on Finley in Seeking Mansfield, but this was more believable, especially given the age difference.
And Edmund (Jonathan) was just perfection.
Just... Oh, God, what a heart-aching romance! The next time someone tells me Edmund and Fanny are not a romantic couple, are somehow not as love worthy as Lizzie and Darcy, I'm going to throw a copy of The Beresfords at their heads.
In this version, Edmund/Jonathan actually marries Mary (called Caroline Grant in this telling) at one point and an underage Fanny is forced to watch, unable to say anything or confess her love.
I was dying for her to pull a (pre crazy woke) Taylor Swift and be all Speak Now, but at the same time I knew she COULDN'T and there was so much angst and feels...
I half expected Frannie to turn into sea foam like the little mermaid after the prince's wedding.
So when, after everything, after Love, Rosie levels of missed chances and ships passing in the night, we get a gorgeous love confession scene between Jonathan and Frannie, it's just oh so wonderful.
*Coughs*
Can we use the GOOD screen adaptation?
There we go.
As for Henry Crawford (Eric Grant), I loved how he was handled. Firstly, his crap behavior isn't romanticized. What he does, to Frannie and her cousins, is in no way softened or excused, nor is he rewarded, but we are given just the littlest bit of hope at the end that he might just learn not to be a total garbage person and that's rather nice.
Even original characters not included in the original JA novel got treated incredibly well. I half expected Tammy to just be a comedy gag, more stereotype than proper character, but she despite being cray cray was handled respectfully and got a happy ending and wasn't just there to be laughed at. I even rather liked her, because Frannie did.
This is still how I imagine her, though, can't help it:
And how I imagine she reacted in private to Jonathan going after Caroline instead of her:
As an aside, the part where Frannie isn't sure which one of Tom's friends Julie married was hilarious. I just didn't know where else in the review to get that in.
Oh and, aside number two, wasn't it oddly comforting that the Mr. Norris character doesn't die in this?
The plot was faithful to MP without being married to it letter of the law. We didn't have to have the characters in a play just because that's what the original did, for instance, and that was a surprisingly great change of pace. I loved how it became The Beresfords and the Grants going gambling and leaving Frannie behind to be found alone by Uncle Paul upon his return from China. Just fit the time period better.
Honestly, this book had an easy road to impress me, given my last modern Mansfield Park read was pretty awful (Parked At The Mansfields') complete with OCD Mrs. Norris, Extra horny Tom, and a Fanny who talks like Tarzan, but it did so much more than that; it completely blew me away. I loved every second, every page, every twist and turn, everybody's happy ending, so, so much.
I was wondering what to expect with this one, would it be the Pureflix version of MP? Or something I could take more seriously?
The latter.
It was a marvel.
I will have to check out more books by this author in future, because she NAILED retelling Mansfield Park.
Highest, completely unreserved recommendation!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2012
The Beresfords~
With sympathy and humour , Christina Dudley has given us an in depth, contemporary take on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.
From the book's cover..
Raised with four older stepcousins in a conservative, churchgoing family, Frannie Price teeters on the brink of adolescence in the summer of 1985. Her timidity and awkwardness make her easy to overlook, yet she has one true friend in her cousin Jonathan. Jonathan, her childhood champion and the best person she knows. But when the Grant twins enter her life, Frannie’s world turns upside down. Not only does the sly and charming Eric Grant set her girl cousins against each other, but his flirtatious sister makes off with Jonathan’s heart.
Only Frannie sees the faults running beneath the family landscape—not that anyone’s asking her opinion. Not her strict Uncle Paul, not her beloved Jonathan, and certainly not the Grants, who, after having their way with the rest of the Beresfords, turn their sights on her. What’s a girl to do? And why does she feel, in this uncharted territory, like God left her at the border?
As the cover concludes, The Beresfords chronicles Frannie’s coming of age, when all around her is coming apart.
As a reader, I continually internally urged Frannie to speak up, tell it like it was. Unfortunately, she didn't hear me :) She continued on her own path. I cringed at her hesitancy, at the sidelining of her by her cousins, their 'un'Christian behaviour and attitudes contradicting their stated beliefs, their shallowness, the impotence of Frannie's aunt, and I acknowledged my disgust of uncle Paul's sister who ran roughshod over Frannie. Then again, aunt Terry met no resistance to her unkindness and bullying!
I cheered for any small act of kindness from the maid or her cousin Jonathan. When the tables eventually turned, I resonated a huge 'YES!' The cousins were getting their just reward and Frannie was having her day!
Christina shares her reasons for writing her take on MP at the Calico Critic blogspot. One reason? "I wanted to give Fanny her own voice, to make her more sympathetic... Let her tell her side of the story, as my “Frannie” does."
Christina's final reason makes reading investment in The Beresfords bear interest.. "And finally, I was ticked at dear Jane for the ending of Mansfield Park. After all that Fanny has been through, things turn around for her in one sentence?! (And not even a very detailed sentence!) Fanny suffers more than any other Austen heroine, with the possible exception of Anne Elliott in Persuasion, but Anne gets a delicious conclusion, complete with detailed, heartfelt confession by Captain Wentworth. How could Austen so 'phone it in', when it came to Fanny? This absolutely had to be remedied."
Definitely a worthy read for anyone wanting a better outcome for Frannie {or Fannie}! At least in The Beresfords, Christina has given us the satisfaction of Frannie's triumph and we can partner with her for the concluding HaPpY Dance!
With sympathy and humour , Christina Dudley has given us an in depth, contemporary take on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.
From the book's cover..
Raised with four older stepcousins in a conservative, churchgoing family, Frannie Price teeters on the brink of adolescence in the summer of 1985. Her timidity and awkwardness make her easy to overlook, yet she has one true friend in her cousin Jonathan. Jonathan, her childhood champion and the best person she knows. But when the Grant twins enter her life, Frannie’s world turns upside down. Not only does the sly and charming Eric Grant set her girl cousins against each other, but his flirtatious sister makes off with Jonathan’s heart.
Only Frannie sees the faults running beneath the family landscape—not that anyone’s asking her opinion. Not her strict Uncle Paul, not her beloved Jonathan, and certainly not the Grants, who, after having their way with the rest of the Beresfords, turn their sights on her. What’s a girl to do? And why does she feel, in this uncharted territory, like God left her at the border?
As the cover concludes, The Beresfords chronicles Frannie’s coming of age, when all around her is coming apart.
As a reader, I continually internally urged Frannie to speak up, tell it like it was. Unfortunately, she didn't hear me :) She continued on her own path. I cringed at her hesitancy, at the sidelining of her by her cousins, their 'un'Christian behaviour and attitudes contradicting their stated beliefs, their shallowness, the impotence of Frannie's aunt, and I acknowledged my disgust of uncle Paul's sister who ran roughshod over Frannie. Then again, aunt Terry met no resistance to her unkindness and bullying!
I cheered for any small act of kindness from the maid or her cousin Jonathan. When the tables eventually turned, I resonated a huge 'YES!' The cousins were getting their just reward and Frannie was having her day!
Christina shares her reasons for writing her take on MP at the Calico Critic blogspot. One reason? "I wanted to give Fanny her own voice, to make her more sympathetic... Let her tell her side of the story, as my “Frannie” does."
Christina's final reason makes reading investment in The Beresfords bear interest.. "And finally, I was ticked at dear Jane for the ending of Mansfield Park. After all that Fanny has been through, things turn around for her in one sentence?! (And not even a very detailed sentence!) Fanny suffers more than any other Austen heroine, with the possible exception of Anne Elliott in Persuasion, but Anne gets a delicious conclusion, complete with detailed, heartfelt confession by Captain Wentworth. How could Austen so 'phone it in', when it came to Fanny? This absolutely had to be remedied."
Definitely a worthy read for anyone wanting a better outcome for Frannie {or Fannie}! At least in The Beresfords, Christina has given us the satisfaction of Frannie's triumph and we can partner with her for the concluding HaPpY Dance!
May 12, 2015
I meant to read this one for the big 200th Anniversary of Mansfield Park and sigh...that didn't happen. However, I did read it for the 201st and I have to say that I'm sad I waited so long. I'm not sure what I was expecting in a Mansfield Park retelling, but I underestimated how much I would enjoy this brilliant tribute to the original story. All the strengths and flaws of the original plot and characters were brought out in this creative retelling that made me believe that Fanny Price and her relations at Mansfield Park had returned to life. There is a strong inspirational theme to it, but it worked well for this story. This is not a book that requires that the reader having read the original story it is retelling. Those who have will appreciate the ties back to the original and those who haven't are given a gentle story of a shy, young little appreciated girl's triumph.
The story was drawn out over years and felt more like fiction than romance- which is true of Austen's stories too- in the way it encompasses a story of a girl set amongst a larger group of people. It's very much character-driven and paces out gently. I felt all the agony of young unrequited love, dismissal, upheaval, self-acceptance and finally long-term happiness. This one, as a modern story, went where the original couldn't and wouldn't. I thought it worked very well where the author deviated and made this story her own. I can appreciate this heroine, but there were several times when I had the strong urge to smack ever person around her for being so self-absorbed or just out and out jerks and sometimes her when she didn't speak up.
I should probably also mention that while this felt like inspirational fiction and also YA-ish in that the Beresford family and Frannie had strong conservative church values, that the author doesn't shy away from language, mentions of some sexual situations, and partying.
All in all, I really enjoyed the story and would definitely pick up something else from this author. Austenesque fans and fans of sweet contemporary romance should definitely consider this one.
I rec'd this book as a result of a giveaway and this does not influence my review.
The story was drawn out over years and felt more like fiction than romance- which is true of Austen's stories too- in the way it encompasses a story of a girl set amongst a larger group of people. It's very much character-driven and paces out gently. I felt all the agony of young unrequited love, dismissal, upheaval, self-acceptance and finally long-term happiness. This one, as a modern story, went where the original couldn't and wouldn't. I thought it worked very well where the author deviated and made this story her own. I can appreciate this heroine, but there were several times when I had the strong urge to smack ever person around her for being so self-absorbed or just out and out jerks and sometimes her when she didn't speak up.
I should probably also mention that while this felt like inspirational fiction and also YA-ish in that the Beresford family and Frannie had strong conservative church values, that the author doesn't shy away from language, mentions of some sexual situations, and partying.
All in all, I really enjoyed the story and would definitely pick up something else from this author. Austenesque fans and fans of sweet contemporary romance should definitely consider this one.
I rec'd this book as a result of a giveaway and this does not influence my review.
January 30, 2015
This review was first posted on Babblings of a Bookworm: http://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot....
Last year, to celebrate the bicentenary of ‘Mansfield Park’ I embarked on a Mansfield reading challenge and found that there were slim pickings. I read a few Mansfield Park inspired books but they were all young adult. ‘The Beresfords’ is an updated version of Mansfield Park set in the 1980s and although our main character, Frannie Price is 14 when it begins I wouldn’t categorise it as YA.
Frannie went to live with her Aunt Marie’s family at age 6. Frannie’s mum was a drug addict, and so had brushes with the law and social services and Frannie’s aunt by marriage, Aunt Terri (the Mrs Norris character) suggests to her brother, Paul (the Sir Thomas Bertram character) that it would be the morally upright thing to do to bring his wife’s niece to live with them. Paul has 4 children from his first marriage, Tom, followed by Jonathan (Edmund), Rachel (Maria) and Julie. Marie, Frannie’s aunt, is their step-mother. Marie has been in the Beresford children’s lives for around 13 years when our story begins and the Beresford children’s birth mother isn’t that interested in them, so they see Marie as their mother. Marie is very indolent, in a vague, ineffectual way, and though she is fond of them, she doesn’t put herself out much for anybody at all, so the raising of the children has mostly been done by Paul Beresford’s sister, Theresa, aka Terri or Aunt Terror. The only person who actually sees her as a terror is 14 year old Frannie, who Aunt Terri is always finding jobs for, when she isn’t reminding Frannie how much she owes her relatives.
Frannie is an interesting character. She’s so awkward, gauche and crushingly shy. She utterly adores Jonathan, who is the only person in the family who actually seems to care for her at all or see her as a person. Her other step-cousins resented her from the first, finding her uneducated and slow compared to them. They are all older than her, she’d had limited education before she’d come to live with the Beresfords and they are all academically more able than her. Jonathan dreams of becoming a pastor, and has instilled a lot of his beliefs into Frannie. The rest of the family are regular churchgoers but they only attend church because their strict father insists on it, it’s all lip-service. Tom is wild, always sneaking out to drink, and he’s gone away to college, where he has a pretty good time. One day, he brings home some friends from college, twins Eric and Caroline Grant (the Crawford characters). They are sophisticated and irreverent, and the Beresfords are immediately attracted to them, probably because they are just so different.
‘We’d never heard conversation like this before, and you could see us all draw nearer, like neighboring stars being sucked into a black hole.’
From the sidelines, Frannie resentfully watches as Caroline Grant casts her spell over Frannie’s beloved Jonathan while Caroline’s brother Eric toys with the affections of both Rachel and Julie, despite the fact that Rachel has a boyfriend, star of the baseball team Greg. Since Frannie is so overlooked, she is rarely noticed, which gives her an opportunity to watch the whole group closely. Although she is naive she sees the manipulations and the charm offensive that the Grants are pulling on the Beresfords, and mistrusts them accordingly.
I think all of the modern updates of 'Mansfield Park' that I’ve read have been young adult reads, and although you can see the events of 'Mansfield Park' they’ve not been anywhere near as complex. This was very different in that respect, I felt that it was easily the most faithful update that I’ve read. Frannie was so similar to Fanny Price – overlooked, seen as lesser by her stepcousins (here lesser in age and intelligence rather than social status) and by virtue of them all being so self-absorbed she is completely overlooked. In some respects she is quite ignorant and she is quite black and white in her judgements of people, but with her view of the Grants unobstructed by any attention to her from them she is able to make shrewd judgement of their characters. The downside for me of Frannie being so close to Fanny is that it took me a long time to engage fully with the book. Frannie isn’t really an engaging character! In ‘Mansfield Park’ there is a third person narrator making wry observations and intelligent comments but here it’s all from Frannie’s narrow and naive point of view which wasn’t as engaging. Frannie is also very isolated which for me didn’t work quite as well in a modern setting. In ‘Mansfield Park’ Fanny doesn’t have much choice of companions. Her cousins aren’t interested in her, Fanny isn’t out in society and she would have had very little opportunity to meet people of a suitable class. Frannie could have met a much wider range of people, and if she wasn’t able to find many friends in school, she had other opportunities through church. Frannie comes across as quite a cold individual which makes her a little less likeable than Fanny Price, who had far less chance to find people to care for. Also, I felt that Fanny’s main weakness, being overly judgemental and not taking into account people’s backgrounds, is a fault that Frannie shared but never really overcame.
As I mentioned above religion plays a part in this book which people may not be expecting in a modern update. However, in my opinion it’s entirely fitting; in ‘Mansfield Park’, Mary Crawford is aghast at the thought of Edmund becoming a clergyman, and the difference in their spiritual viewpoint would be sure to take some bridging and compromise, and here it’s no different. Frannie being raised in an environment where religious teachings are given prominence also helps account for her attitude, which by modern standards is quite conservative. Conversely, rebelling against their religious upbringing also explains some of Rachel and Tom’s behaviour, and the fact that they keep it so secret from their father.
Once I got past the first third or so of the book I was really gripped, and very impressed by how closely the relationship dynamics followed ‘Mansfield Park’. Frannie’s feelings were represented well, and I thought some of the things which may not have made sense in a modern update without tweaking were well-accounted for (such as Eric Grant suddenly noticing Frannie as an attractive girl – here it’s because he hasn’t seen her in a few years and she has changed quite a bit in that time and suddenly seems grown up to him). As I said, this is easily the most faithful update of Mansfield Park that I’ve read and what comes parcelled with that is that the cast of characters aren’t the most likeable you’ll find, though I felt differently to some of them compared to their characters in MP. Aunt Terri is always nipping away at Frannie but she’s not the horrible woman that Aunt Norris is, and I always had a soft spot for the Crawford that I didn’t find for Caroline Grant, though I still managed to find some pity for her brother! If you’re looking to read a modern update of 'Mansfield Park' I’d certainly recommend this one, and I’d rate it as 4½ stars.
Last year, to celebrate the bicentenary of ‘Mansfield Park’ I embarked on a Mansfield reading challenge and found that there were slim pickings. I read a few Mansfield Park inspired books but they were all young adult. ‘The Beresfords’ is an updated version of Mansfield Park set in the 1980s and although our main character, Frannie Price is 14 when it begins I wouldn’t categorise it as YA.
Frannie went to live with her Aunt Marie’s family at age 6. Frannie’s mum was a drug addict, and so had brushes with the law and social services and Frannie’s aunt by marriage, Aunt Terri (the Mrs Norris character) suggests to her brother, Paul (the Sir Thomas Bertram character) that it would be the morally upright thing to do to bring his wife’s niece to live with them. Paul has 4 children from his first marriage, Tom, followed by Jonathan (Edmund), Rachel (Maria) and Julie. Marie, Frannie’s aunt, is their step-mother. Marie has been in the Beresford children’s lives for around 13 years when our story begins and the Beresford children’s birth mother isn’t that interested in them, so they see Marie as their mother. Marie is very indolent, in a vague, ineffectual way, and though she is fond of them, she doesn’t put herself out much for anybody at all, so the raising of the children has mostly been done by Paul Beresford’s sister, Theresa, aka Terri or Aunt Terror. The only person who actually sees her as a terror is 14 year old Frannie, who Aunt Terri is always finding jobs for, when she isn’t reminding Frannie how much she owes her relatives.
Frannie is an interesting character. She’s so awkward, gauche and crushingly shy. She utterly adores Jonathan, who is the only person in the family who actually seems to care for her at all or see her as a person. Her other step-cousins resented her from the first, finding her uneducated and slow compared to them. They are all older than her, she’d had limited education before she’d come to live with the Beresfords and they are all academically more able than her. Jonathan dreams of becoming a pastor, and has instilled a lot of his beliefs into Frannie. The rest of the family are regular churchgoers but they only attend church because their strict father insists on it, it’s all lip-service. Tom is wild, always sneaking out to drink, and he’s gone away to college, where he has a pretty good time. One day, he brings home some friends from college, twins Eric and Caroline Grant (the Crawford characters). They are sophisticated and irreverent, and the Beresfords are immediately attracted to them, probably because they are just so different.
‘We’d never heard conversation like this before, and you could see us all draw nearer, like neighboring stars being sucked into a black hole.’
From the sidelines, Frannie resentfully watches as Caroline Grant casts her spell over Frannie’s beloved Jonathan while Caroline’s brother Eric toys with the affections of both Rachel and Julie, despite the fact that Rachel has a boyfriend, star of the baseball team Greg. Since Frannie is so overlooked, she is rarely noticed, which gives her an opportunity to watch the whole group closely. Although she is naive she sees the manipulations and the charm offensive that the Grants are pulling on the Beresfords, and mistrusts them accordingly.
I think all of the modern updates of 'Mansfield Park' that I’ve read have been young adult reads, and although you can see the events of 'Mansfield Park' they’ve not been anywhere near as complex. This was very different in that respect, I felt that it was easily the most faithful update that I’ve read. Frannie was so similar to Fanny Price – overlooked, seen as lesser by her stepcousins (here lesser in age and intelligence rather than social status) and by virtue of them all being so self-absorbed she is completely overlooked. In some respects she is quite ignorant and she is quite black and white in her judgements of people, but with her view of the Grants unobstructed by any attention to her from them she is able to make shrewd judgement of their characters. The downside for me of Frannie being so close to Fanny is that it took me a long time to engage fully with the book. Frannie isn’t really an engaging character! In ‘Mansfield Park’ there is a third person narrator making wry observations and intelligent comments but here it’s all from Frannie’s narrow and naive point of view which wasn’t as engaging. Frannie is also very isolated which for me didn’t work quite as well in a modern setting. In ‘Mansfield Park’ Fanny doesn’t have much choice of companions. Her cousins aren’t interested in her, Fanny isn’t out in society and she would have had very little opportunity to meet people of a suitable class. Frannie could have met a much wider range of people, and if she wasn’t able to find many friends in school, she had other opportunities through church. Frannie comes across as quite a cold individual which makes her a little less likeable than Fanny Price, who had far less chance to find people to care for. Also, I felt that Fanny’s main weakness, being overly judgemental and not taking into account people’s backgrounds, is a fault that Frannie shared but never really overcame.
As I mentioned above religion plays a part in this book which people may not be expecting in a modern update. However, in my opinion it’s entirely fitting; in ‘Mansfield Park’, Mary Crawford is aghast at the thought of Edmund becoming a clergyman, and the difference in their spiritual viewpoint would be sure to take some bridging and compromise, and here it’s no different. Frannie being raised in an environment where religious teachings are given prominence also helps account for her attitude, which by modern standards is quite conservative. Conversely, rebelling against their religious upbringing also explains some of Rachel and Tom’s behaviour, and the fact that they keep it so secret from their father.
Once I got past the first third or so of the book I was really gripped, and very impressed by how closely the relationship dynamics followed ‘Mansfield Park’. Frannie’s feelings were represented well, and I thought some of the things which may not have made sense in a modern update without tweaking were well-accounted for (such as Eric Grant suddenly noticing Frannie as an attractive girl – here it’s because he hasn’t seen her in a few years and she has changed quite a bit in that time and suddenly seems grown up to him). As I said, this is easily the most faithful update of Mansfield Park that I’ve read and what comes parcelled with that is that the cast of characters aren’t the most likeable you’ll find, though I felt differently to some of them compared to their characters in MP. Aunt Terri is always nipping away at Frannie but she’s not the horrible woman that Aunt Norris is, and I always had a soft spot for the Crawford that I didn’t find for Caroline Grant, though I still managed to find some pity for her brother! If you’re looking to read a modern update of 'Mansfield Park' I’d certainly recommend this one, and I’d rate it as 4½ stars.
August 6, 2022
Si può essere più bigotti di Fanny Price?
Una trasposizione in chiave moderna (???) di Mansfield Park di Jane Austen che arriva a picchi di fanatismo religioso davvero poco credibili per noi, anche se negli Stati Uniti non così tanto, a quanto pare. Per lo meno; Dudley ha avuto il buonsenso di trasportare la storia agli anni '80 e '90, perché nell'era di internet sarebbe stata forse ancora meno credibile.
Fin da piccola, Frannie Price viene ospitata in casa degli zii Beresford in California, con zia Marie che è davvero sorella di sua madre e seconda moglie di zio Paul (Sir Thomas), e i quattro cugini acquisiti Beresford (Tom, Jonathan, Rachel e Julie) che biologicamente non hanno alcun legame con lei. Zia Terri (zia Norris) è invece la sorella di Paul Beresford, che si è sempre occupata dell'educazione dei quattro nipoti e, al suo arrivo, anche di quella di Frannie... con le dovute differenze e rinfacciandole sempre la sua estraneità alla famiglia.
La vita dei giovani Beresford e di Frannie viene rivoluzionata l'estate in cui Tom - già il più ribelle dei quattro fratelli - porta a casa i suoi compagni di college, i gemelli Eric e Caroline Grant (Henry e Mary Crawford), che sono tutt'altro che devoti cristiani, e che Frannie paragona a Belzebù!
Non dico che Dudley non abbia trovato adeguate alternative all'assenza di zio Paul, al teatro, eccetera, ma francamente non sopporto troppo i libri denominati "christian", che considero bigotti e fanatici, dei conduct books come si usavano nell'Ottocento travestiti da romanzi contemporanei, e che secondo me sono lontani anni luce dallo spirito austeniano. Perché persino Fanny Price, con tutte le sue idee di rettitudine, non è mai stata bigotta come questa Frannie... a parte il fatto che nel 1814 l'eroina di Jane Austen era un personaggio credibile, mentre Frannie non mi sembra esserlo. A me sta bene essere religiosi e andare in chiesa tutte le domeniche, fare volontariato, eccetera. Ma discriminare gli altri perché non lo sono mi sembra si spinga troppo vicino al fanatismo.
Una trasposizione in chiave moderna (???) di Mansfield Park di Jane Austen che arriva a picchi di fanatismo religioso davvero poco credibili per noi, anche se negli Stati Uniti non così tanto, a quanto pare. Per lo meno; Dudley ha avuto il buonsenso di trasportare la storia agli anni '80 e '90, perché nell'era di internet sarebbe stata forse ancora meno credibile.
Fin da piccola, Frannie Price viene ospitata in casa degli zii Beresford in California, con zia Marie che è davvero sorella di sua madre e seconda moglie di zio Paul (Sir Thomas), e i quattro cugini acquisiti Beresford (Tom, Jonathan, Rachel e Julie) che biologicamente non hanno alcun legame con lei. Zia Terri (zia Norris) è invece la sorella di Paul Beresford, che si è sempre occupata dell'educazione dei quattro nipoti e, al suo arrivo, anche di quella di Frannie... con le dovute differenze e rinfacciandole sempre la sua estraneità alla famiglia.
La vita dei giovani Beresford e di Frannie viene rivoluzionata l'estate in cui Tom - già il più ribelle dei quattro fratelli - porta a casa i suoi compagni di college, i gemelli Eric e Caroline Grant (Henry e Mary Crawford), che sono tutt'altro che devoti cristiani, e che Frannie paragona a Belzebù!
Non dico che Dudley non abbia trovato adeguate alternative all'assenza di zio Paul, al teatro, eccetera, ma francamente non sopporto troppo i libri denominati "christian", che considero bigotti e fanatici, dei conduct books come si usavano nell'Ottocento travestiti da romanzi contemporanei, e che secondo me sono lontani anni luce dallo spirito austeniano. Perché persino Fanny Price, con tutte le sue idee di rettitudine, non è mai stata bigotta come questa Frannie... a parte il fatto che nel 1814 l'eroina di Jane Austen era un personaggio credibile, mentre Frannie non mi sembra esserlo. A me sta bene essere religiosi e andare in chiesa tutte le domeniche, fare volontariato, eccetera. Ma discriminare gli altri perché non lo sono mi sembra si spinga troppo vicino al fanatismo.
February 10, 2017
3,5/5
La famille Beresford a la gentillesse de recueillir chez elle la jeune Frannie Price pendant que sa mère enchaîne les cures de désintoxication. Elle va ainsi vivre avec sa tante, son mari et les enfants de celui-ci. Vous l'avez compris, The Beresfords est une adaptation moderne de Mansfield Park. J'avais hâte de lire ce roman parce que le fait que l'auteur n'est pas choisi Orgueil et Préjugés est déjà rafraîchissant en soi. À cela s'ajoute mon indéfectible optimisme qui me permet toujours d'espérer qu'un jour ou l'autre, une austenerie ou même un relecture de l'original, me feront aimer un peu plus Fanny et Edmund...
Pour transposer l'histoire à notre époque en gardant une trame similaire, l'auteur a choisi de placer l'action dans une famille très croyante et pratiquante et même moi qui suis croyante, ça m'a parfois agacé alors je n'imagine même pas l'effet sur quelqu'un qui préférait ne pas entendre parler de religion ! De plus, malgré ce contexte particulier ou parfois même à cause de ce contexte-ci, il y a plusieurs choses qui pour moi ne passent pas. Autant ça ne me choque pas que Fanny soit amoureuse de son cousin dans l'original parce que ce sont les moeurs de l'époque, autant ici, une jeune fille qui a été élevé avec un jeune homme considéré comme son cousin, dès l'enfance, même s'ils n'ont pas de réel lien de sang, c'est juste inconcevable pour moi. Quant à Edmund, que j'ai toujours autant envie de secouer, qu'il épouse Caroline Grant/Mary Crawford est déjà assez décevant en soi mais qu'il divorce puis devienne pasteur ?!
En revanche, Christina Dudley ne se trompe pas dans la retranscription des caractères et voir évoluer ses personnages à notre époque est plutôt amusant. La lecture du roman est agréable, si on arrive à mettre certains bémols de côté, et plaira également à ceux qui n'ont pas lu l'original je pense. En fait, elle a peut-être même réussi à me faire un petit peu plus aimer Fanny/Frannie, ou avoir un peu plus pitié d'elle, même si je ne sais pas si c'est mieux. En effet, je trouve sa description plus franche et honnête, l'auteur n'hésitant pas à nous décrire ses limites, ce qui permet parfois de mieux la comprendre.
Et nous en arrivons à l'épineux problème Eric Grant/Henry Crawford. Si vous ne voulez pas être spoilée, je vous conseille d'arrêter là votre lecture mais si comme Cassandra Austen et moi, vous pensez que Fanny aurait dû laisser une chance à Henry, alors je sais que vous ne pourrez pas vous empêcher de lire... Comme dans l'original, il arrive ici un moment où on commence à vraiment apprécier Eric/Henry et où on espère plus avant que tout s'effondre. Dans l'oeuvre de Jane Austen, je dois dire que c'est déjà assez frustrant mais ici c'est pire parce que l'auteur, dans un bon esprit de charité chrétienne s'emploie à démonter qu'Eric n'est pas vraiment responsable. Bon, on veut bien croire qu'il a couché avec la cousine de Frannie par inadvertance mais quand même... Qu'à cela ne tienne, nous avons également droit à un épilogue (cucul la praline, il n'y a pas d'autre mot, soi dit en passant) dans lequel nous retrouvons Eric complètement transformé (oui, il emmène ses enfants au camp d'été chrétien). Et là, franchement, c'est pas sympa. Parce qu'accepter que Fanny choisisse Edmund quand Henry prouvait qu'elle avait raison sur lui, c'était une chose mais si là il devient parfait... Bon, cela dit, soyons honnête: parfait il est quand même moins attirant qu'en mauvais garçon...
http://janeausten.hautetfort.com/arch...
La famille Beresford a la gentillesse de recueillir chez elle la jeune Frannie Price pendant que sa mère enchaîne les cures de désintoxication. Elle va ainsi vivre avec sa tante, son mari et les enfants de celui-ci. Vous l'avez compris, The Beresfords est une adaptation moderne de Mansfield Park. J'avais hâte de lire ce roman parce que le fait que l'auteur n'est pas choisi Orgueil et Préjugés est déjà rafraîchissant en soi. À cela s'ajoute mon indéfectible optimisme qui me permet toujours d'espérer qu'un jour ou l'autre, une austenerie ou même un relecture de l'original, me feront aimer un peu plus Fanny et Edmund...
Pour transposer l'histoire à notre époque en gardant une trame similaire, l'auteur a choisi de placer l'action dans une famille très croyante et pratiquante et même moi qui suis croyante, ça m'a parfois agacé alors je n'imagine même pas l'effet sur quelqu'un qui préférait ne pas entendre parler de religion ! De plus, malgré ce contexte particulier ou parfois même à cause de ce contexte-ci, il y a plusieurs choses qui pour moi ne passent pas. Autant ça ne me choque pas que Fanny soit amoureuse de son cousin dans l'original parce que ce sont les moeurs de l'époque, autant ici, une jeune fille qui a été élevé avec un jeune homme considéré comme son cousin, dès l'enfance, même s'ils n'ont pas de réel lien de sang, c'est juste inconcevable pour moi. Quant à Edmund, que j'ai toujours autant envie de secouer, qu'il épouse Caroline Grant/Mary Crawford est déjà assez décevant en soi mais qu'il divorce puis devienne pasteur ?!
En revanche, Christina Dudley ne se trompe pas dans la retranscription des caractères et voir évoluer ses personnages à notre époque est plutôt amusant. La lecture du roman est agréable, si on arrive à mettre certains bémols de côté, et plaira également à ceux qui n'ont pas lu l'original je pense. En fait, elle a peut-être même réussi à me faire un petit peu plus aimer Fanny/Frannie, ou avoir un peu plus pitié d'elle, même si je ne sais pas si c'est mieux. En effet, je trouve sa description plus franche et honnête, l'auteur n'hésitant pas à nous décrire ses limites, ce qui permet parfois de mieux la comprendre.
Et nous en arrivons à l'épineux problème Eric Grant/Henry Crawford. Si vous ne voulez pas être spoilée, je vous conseille d'arrêter là votre lecture mais si comme Cassandra Austen et moi, vous pensez que Fanny aurait dû laisser une chance à Henry, alors je sais que vous ne pourrez pas vous empêcher de lire... Comme dans l'original, il arrive ici un moment où on commence à vraiment apprécier Eric/Henry et où on espère plus avant que tout s'effondre. Dans l'oeuvre de Jane Austen, je dois dire que c'est déjà assez frustrant mais ici c'est pire parce que l'auteur, dans un bon esprit de charité chrétienne s'emploie à démonter qu'Eric n'est pas vraiment responsable. Bon, on veut bien croire qu'il a couché avec la cousine de Frannie par inadvertance mais quand même... Qu'à cela ne tienne, nous avons également droit à un épilogue (cucul la praline, il n'y a pas d'autre mot, soi dit en passant) dans lequel nous retrouvons Eric complètement transformé (oui, il emmène ses enfants au camp d'été chrétien). Et là, franchement, c'est pas sympa. Parce qu'accepter que Fanny choisisse Edmund quand Henry prouvait qu'elle avait raison sur lui, c'était une chose mais si là il devient parfait... Bon, cela dit, soyons honnête: parfait il est quand même moins attirant qu'en mauvais garçon...
http://janeausten.hautetfort.com/arch...
November 9, 2021
Hard for an author to pick her favorite work, but I think for me it's between THE LITTLEST DOUBTS, this one, and A VERY PLAIN YOUNG MAN (which is pure fun and not a lot of substance, so maybe shouldn't be in the running...). I can see why my non-religious employer didn't finish it, since Jonathan's career choice probably horrified her. Heck, Jane Austen didn't leave me much choice. Edmund Bertram wanted to be a clergyman, after all.
October 29, 2012
An enjoyable modern re-telling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. Full review available on The Calico Critic:
http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/2012...
http://calicocritic.blogspot.com/2012...
July 8, 2012
Loved it! Thanks Christina :)
May 23, 2021
Per quanto non apprezzi la letteratura americana cristiana, quando l'algoritmo di Goodreads mi ha proposto questo titolo non ho resistito. E' così sopra le righe che l'ho trovato davvero divertente, anche se credo che l'autrice mi troverebbe una lettrice alquanto irrispettosa e indisponente. Ero scettica sull'ambientazione negli anni Ottanta, invece funziona benissimo a mio avviso.
March 31, 2018
An admirable attempt to retell Mansfield Park in the present day, but like many retellings, this novel adheres to the plot outline while losing the humor and social commentary of the original.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2022
Modernization of Mansfield Park where everyone is still first cousins. No, thank you.
October 21, 2022
Too 'Church-y' and 'Christian' for my liking, though as a modern version of Mansfield Park, it had potential
December 31, 2025
Mansfield Park is my favorite Jane Austen novel, and this retelling did not disappoint. It's one of those books that sucks you in and makes you feel like you live there for a while.
February 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this, in spite of the profusive religious component. (Nothing wrong with that, it's just not my thing.) This was an excellent homage to Mansfield Park.
July 4, 2013
Although a fan of Dudley's other books and a great appreciator of all things Austen-related, I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for this Christianized retelling of Mansfield Park . Granted, that's one of my less favorite Austen books, but I had hopes that by setting the story in the 1980s and throwing in the Evangelical element and her trademark humor, Dudley would bring something fresh to the table.
While I applaud her decision to set the story in the 80s (what a great decade!) I feel that she underutilizes the possibilities. Also, the beautifully unexpected quirk and humor that seemed a trademark of the Cassandra books is nowhere evidenced in this one. This, for me, was the biggest disappointment. The only character who shows glimmers of this is Tom, and only toward the end.
I may be wrong, but it felt to me that the author may have been trying to fit the mold of the standard Christian Fiction fare, something that doesn't suit her natural voice, thank goodness. My recommendation is to check out her companion novels Mourning Becomes Cassandra and Littlest Doubts.
While I applaud her decision to set the story in the 80s (what a great decade!) I feel that she underutilizes the possibilities. Also, the beautifully unexpected quirk and humor that seemed a trademark of the Cassandra books is nowhere evidenced in this one. This, for me, was the biggest disappointment. The only character who shows glimmers of this is Tom, and only toward the end.
I may be wrong, but it felt to me that the author may have been trying to fit the mold of the standard Christian Fiction fare, something that doesn't suit her natural voice, thank goodness. My recommendation is to check out her companion novels Mourning Becomes Cassandra and Littlest Doubts.
February 8, 2013
on a very superficial note: in my opinion, the cover totally misrepresents this book!
I just didn't LOVE this book like I wanted to... BUT, I am thinking about the characters today (after having finished it yesterday), which means something. I'm just not sure that I love them.
Hmmm...
I just didn't LOVE this book like I wanted to... BUT, I am thinking about the characters today (after having finished it yesterday), which means something. I'm just not sure that I love them.
Hmmm...
did-not-finish
November 6, 2012Wasn't a fan of this at all. Made it about 75 pages in and gave up. The main heroine was really boring and the book seemed ultra conservative and a bit too preachy for me.
February 16, 2014
An exciting remake of Austen's Mansfield Park. Lots of fun.
November 16, 2014
Really enjoyed it....thanks, Kristina!
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