Edmund Bertram's Diary

Jane Austen Heroes #4

by Amanda Grange

The retelling of Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park from the point of view of Edmund Bertram by the author of Mr. Knightley's Diary and Captain Wentworth's Diary. At ten years of age, Fanny Price came to live with Edmund Bertram and his family at Mansfield Park. Far from the brat Edmund expected, Fanny became his closest confidante and dearest friend.

But when the fashionable Crawford siblings, Henry and Mary come to town, they captivate the Bertram family. Henry embarks on a scandalous flirtation with Edmund's sister, who is already betrothed to another, while Edmund is enchanted by Mary's beauty and wit. But when it appears that Mary is not all she seems to be, Edmund will turn to the one woman who has always been at his side to find the happiness he deserves Fanny.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical, Historical Romance, Regency, Classics

293 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2007

About the author

Amanda Grange was born in Yorkshire and spent her teenage years reading Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer whilst also finding time to study music at Nottingham University. She has had twenty-five novels published including six Jane Austen retellings, which look at events from the heroes' points of view. She has also had two books published under different names: Murder at Whitegates Manor (as Eleanor Tyler; a Regency cosy crime murder mystery) and The Rake (as Amy Watson; a very light and frothy Regency romance).

Woman said of Mr Darcy's Diary: "Lots of fun, this is the tale behind the alpha male," whilst The Washington Post called Mr Knightley's Diary "affectionate". The Historical Novels Review made Captain Wentworth's Diary an Editors' Choice, remarking, "Amanda Grange has hit upon a winning formula."

Austenblog declared that Colonel Brandon's Diary was "the best book yet in her series of heroes' diaries."

Amanda Grange now lives in Cheshire. Her profile photo was taken at the Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton. The museum is well worth a visit!

You can find out more by visiting her website at http://www.amandagrange.com You can also follow her on Twitter @hromanceuk and find her on Facebook

Reviews

[Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amanda Grange has done it again! I love her series on Austen men! This is my fourth book and to be honest, I was a little wary of it because Edmund is not one of my favorite Austen heroes. Like in her other books, Ms. Grange did her homework, her retelling follows the course of Mansfield Park, with accurate dates, events, and dialogue taking place.

Unfortunately, because Ms. Grange is so diligent with her work, it means a lot of Edmund's diary entries are consumed with talk of Mary Crawford. This is because through out most of Mansfield Park that is whom Edmund is in love with. Nevertheless, there is a lot of Fanny in the book too. We see her when she arrives at age 10, and how Edmund befriends her, cares for her like a brother, like a guardian. And again when they are older and even though his mind is full of Mary he looks to Fanny for comfort, support, and advice.

I liked the relationship between Edmund and Fanny a lot in this book and I feel a better understanding of it. It did not bother me that there was so much about Mary Crawford, because that was true to Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

What I liked most about this book is all the added insight to Edmund. We see his relationship with his brother develop, how he decided to go into the clergy, and his true thoughts and feelings as to being the man of the house when his father and brother go to Antigua. In addition, you see his interest in Mary Crawford develop. What was it that attracted him so much? How did he feel over her teasing about clergymen? What were his thoughts of her after he had given her up? I do like Edmund more than I did before I read this book, and I, of course, have always liked Fanny, but this book has made me dislike Mrs. Norris and Mary Crawford even more. (But that is okay we are supposed to dislike them!)

The only thing that held me back from give this book the full five stars is that I was hoping for more of a romantic love-declaration scene at the end of the book. It is true that in the original that there isn't a big declaration of love, but some of the movie adaptions have tried to add a scene that was not originally in the book. I also would have liked to know more about how Fanny and Edmund did after marriage rather than "We are the same, Fanny and I." Maybe a little description of their happily ever after would have satisfied me more.

So if you are interested in Edmund, and you want to understand him better, or perhaps read the story of Mansfield Park through his eyes then I recommend you give this book a try. I also recommend the others in this series: Colonel Brandon's Diary, Captain Wentworth's Diary, Mr. Darcy's Diary, and Mr. Knightley's Diary.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should first and foremost make clear that I am a purist where Jane Austen is concerned, and that Mansfield Park and Persuasion alternate as my favorite Austen novel.

Amanda Grange has many good things going for her. The language is mostly convincing and the characters have continuity with Austen's own. When dialog or events coincide with something already portrayed in Mansfield Park, Grange is pretty faithful in her own portrayal. Most importantly, Edmund Bertram's Diary is a light, funny, enjoyable read.

Perhaps this sounds strange coming from a purist, but if one is going to take on Jane Austen, it should be done with confidence. Be big. Be bold. Add something new to the conversation! (For example, love it or hate it, Patricia Rozema's 1999 film adaptation of Mansfield Park brought something new to the table.) The idea of retelling Austen's works from the men's perspectives has so much potential. There are many things that ladies of that time would not or could not have known that the men would have. What an opportunity to add new depth to beloved stories from perspective unavailable to the author! In practice, on the other hand, this was just a safe retelling. I understand that much of Fanny and Edmund's story occurs when they are together leaving little opportunity for invention. That is what made me look forward to the early years when the boys were at school, Edmund's time with the Owens Family, and Fanny's stay in Portsmouth. (Especially Fanny's stay in Portsmouth.) In the original novel so much occurs offstage for Fanny during these periods that Grange could have expanded on Edmund's perspective in so many ways! Sadly, these are some of the skimpiest areas of Edmund's "diary."

It is Jane Austen's wit, humor, and keen observations that make her books more than just love stories. In the end, Edmund Bertram's Diary just becomes an enjoyable but eminently forgettable copy of someone else's masterpiece. Maybe I just started with the wrong Austen hero? I enjoyed Grange's style - and it is clear that we share a love of Austen - so I will be giving her other books a chance.

[Anne (In Search of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

not my favorite in this series but still enjoyable. Too much dialogue was quoted verbatim from the book, which seemed unrealistic for a diary setting, but I thought she did a credible job of giving us Edmund's perspective.

[Christine Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the best Jane Austen sequel/spin off I've ever read. The voice seems true to what Austen would write and although I know how the story ends I was excitedly turning the pages wondering when Edmund had realized that he loved Fanny.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being inside Edmund Bertram's head was so tedious at times that I almost gave up on finishing this book.
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But then something shifted, either in my mind or his, and I started paying attention to how what he noticed about Fanny and it made a world of difference in how much I enjoyed this book.
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I know Mansfield Park isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I've always enjoyed it. They aren't perfect by any stretch, but I do find myself rooting for the Bertram family throughout the book.
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The last few entries of this diary were so touching and tender, making the early frustration with Edmund worth it.
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Fanny doesn't get a lot of chances to choose for herself, but she chooses Edmund and it's time for us to let her have that choice.

[Christie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started reading this because Mansfield Park is, to me, Jane Austen's most fascinating work. I go back to it again and again because there is always a nuance to be discovered, a character to be better-understood. Just its Portsmouth scenes alone make the whole book worth reading!
So I thought I'd give this book, found at our Friends of the Library book sale, a try. As it claims to be a diary I hoped for lots of lovely little details--kippers overdone at breakfast or problems with the tailor or something. I thought there would be new lines to clarify some of the characters' motivations and shed new light on the entire story.
Perhaps Mary Crawford was not really quite so naughty, Henry Crawford not so guilty? And what about Edmund, one of the hardest of Austen's heroes to like. One would hope that his diary would add something new to help us to care more about him, but that is not the case. Maybe Edmund's feelings for Fanny had secretly been building for years as hers had for him? After reading this, the answer is still, "Who knows?"
Unfortunately, "Edmund Bertram's Diary" would better be described as "Watered Down Extracts from Mansfield Park." There is the occasional new sentence, but occasional is the key word. What is not directly quoted or quoted with a key phrase changed is paraphrased. Even worse, some of the best lines from Mansfield Park have been dumbed-down for the modern reader. Completely destroyed is Mary's quip about Rears and Vices.
Yes, I believe in being true to the source material, but there comes a point when you could practically call this much truth a copy-and-paste job, or better yet, plagiarism.
So, I recommend that if you are really into Mansfield Park, you're better off just rereading it than bothering with this moneygrubbing rubbish. Mansfield Revisited was pretty decent if you must have a sequel or companion to the original.

[Betty Strohecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable take on the happenings in Mansfield Park seen from Edmund's point of view.

[Abby Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books I've read this year (and that includes The Beresfords and All The Ever Afters), this has to be my absolute FAVORITE so far.

I don't know what some of the reviewers who complained nothing new was done with Edmund's POV in this were even talking about! There are a ton of extra things we don't get (or at least are only hinted at, at best) in the original book; there's stuff about his relationship with Tom, there's a whole lot about what he had to do before proposing to Mary (which really, really makes her look awful, when you consider that historically this probably WOULD have been what he'd been doing behind the scenes, as a responsible young parson, and she thought she and her 20,000 pounds were too good for him if he wasn't a baronet or at least super rich), there's even more detailed stuff about how he fell in love with Fanny after he had that final fallout with Mary.



I think my favorite additions to the original, however, have GOT to be a) the scene where Edmund comforts Fanny when her little sister dies and that's when he realizes he has a calling for the church and b) the scene where Fanny shows Edmund Mary's letter where she talks about wanting Tom dead.

These are two things I was always fully convinced happened off-page, like it's a solid part of my Mansfield Park headcanon, as well as something I would have LOVED to see in a film adaptation, so it was so great to see Grange include them.

We seriously need more Mansfield Park books like this one, with accurate representation of what Austen's characters were, instead of endless pages of "justification" for everything remotely wrong the Crawfords did or didn't do. Sometimes I think Austen could have included a scene of those two drowning puppies and joining a cult of satanists, and some yoyo would still write a five page essay about their systemic victimhood in the like totally unfair Regency world and how mean Edmund and Fanny were to them.



Anywho, I really enjoyed Tom and Julia's respective characterizations in this as well. They were near pitch perfect. I loved how kind and wholly lacking in spite Julia was at the end, noticing Edmund looking at Fanny during the ball for herself and Mr. Yates and being genuinely happy for her. Tom was brilliantly in character, though if I HAD to nitpick I would admit he's shown as a little more of a womanizer than I imagined him in the original. Honestly, though, Grange makes it work really well. It's sort of a believable contrast between his kind of teasing womanizing that doesn't seriously impact anyone, because he's just a playful goofball, and Henry Crawford's, which eventually leads to Maria's ruin.

I definitely have to recommend this one, as both a faithful take on Mansfield Park and a really sweet romance told from the guy's prospective in a diary format.

Just the perfect read.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Une fois n'est pas coutume, ma note est un petit peu sévère. Si l'écriture agréable d'Amanda Grange et son respect pour l'oeuvre de Jane Austen sont toujours bien présent dans cette réécriture de Mansfield Park du point de vue d'Edmund, je pense que l'intêret que l'on porte à chaque "Diary" est proportionnel à l'amour que l'on a pour chaque héros austenien. Vous l'avez donc compris, je ne suis pas une grande fan d'Edmund, ni même du couple qu'il forme avec Fanny.

Cela ne m'a pas empêché d'espérer beaucoup de ce livre et c'est peut-être aussi pour cela que j'ai été d'autant plus dé��ue. J'espérais apprendre à mieux connaître Edmund, à le comprendre, à trouver des raisons qui excusent sa conduite comme j'en avais trouvé dans le Mr. Darcy's Diary; mais le moins que l'on puisse dire d'Amanda Grange est qu'elle ne se permet pas de modifier quoi que se soit du caractère des personnages. Si on entre facilement dans l'histoire et qu'on le lit toujours avec plaisir, on retrouve un Edmund toujours aussi mou et énervant et lorsqu'il commence à trouver toutes sortes d'excuses aux conduites les plus impardonnables de Miss Crawford, j'ai de nouveau envie de le secouer violemment.

Malgré tout, pour ceux qui aiment Mansfield Park et ce couple, c'est une lecture sympathique, mais sans surprise.

[Gretchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I personally loved Mansfield Park. I admire Fanny and I really liked Edmund, when he wasn't obsessed over Mary Crawford. I kind of think Edmund Bertram's Diary was just a mirror of Mansfield Park (it was kind of hard not to be as Fanny and Edmund grew up together and Edmund is in most chapters of the book). It covered in a couple pages Edmund's trip to visit Mr Owen and what he did while Fanny was in Portsmouth, even though I wanted a bit more of that: it would have been nice to read something I hadn't already read. But the book was accurate, and portrayed Edmund's point of view well; the way he writes about Fanny's actions towards him, you wouldn't wonder why he hadn't figured out she loved him earlier. He was so infatuated with Mary he was completely oblivious to what Fanny felt for him. Furthermore the ending was blah. Not very romantic, and doesn't describe much about after they got married. Interesting read, but I don't think I would take the time to read it again. I'll just read Mansfield Park again instead.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series, and I thought she captured Edmund particularly well. I really enjoy Mansfield Park in general, and it was interesting to read about it from his point of view. I only gave it three stars simply because Edmund himself was so infuriating! Every time he saw something about Mary Crawford he didn't like, he justified it somehow, and it made me want to scream. Which I guess means the author wrote him perfectly, but I never realized just how blind he really was. It's irritating. :)

[Laure · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve been a bit disappointed by this one. Edmund doesn’t have much consistency and is always finding virtues in others very naively. Most of the novel concentrates in his infatuation with Mary but we don’t have many interesting moments with Fanny, which is quite sad.

Some bits of the story are completely forgotten, like the colonies in Antigua, apart from the fact that Mr Bertram goes there, the author completely forgets Fanny’s critics about the colonial regime.

This was not very entertaining, too long for what it adds to the original story (which is not much) and there’s no real exploration of the relation between Edmund and Fanny.

[Alethea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy Grange's Austen retellings in the form of the heroes' diaries. However, despite the ease with which they can be read, they never seem to cover any new ground. The male point of view is fairly easy to imagine, so I don't find these innovative by any means. The main enjoyment to be gleaned from Grange's novels is the comfort of spending time with beloved characters, waiting through their trials for the reward a true Austen fan knows is coming. Certainly sufficient, and truthful to the original.

[Maggie Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this one on my shelf -- along with my Jane Austen novels -- and needed a comfort read. This might actually have been better than Mansfield Park, which does go on and on. Fanny was more appealing in this than I remember her in the book. I started to watch my vhs of Mansfield Park mini-series 1989 and the characters didn't grab me in that version either. Anna Massey as Aunt Norris was perfect, however.

[Amy Bartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could Edmund BE any more thick-headed? Who knew the “I can change them” trope started as early as Jane Austen?! Lol! When people show you who they are, believe them my guy!

This one has always been a lesser favorite of mine mostly because our “hero” spends 90% of the book pining after another woman. It’s even more insufferable being inside his head. Fanny is a bloody saint for putting up with it.

But I love Jane’s characters and, for better or worse, Edmund ended up where he needed to.

[Sheri Kempton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant read that brought me back into the world of Mansfield Park. Most of the book is basically retelling the story of Mansfield Park from Edmund's point of view by way of his diary. What Edmund writes in his personal diary stays true to his personality in the original novel. There aren't really any shocking moments or secrets revealed, but it was entertaining none the less.

[Berna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 stars rounded up to 3. This retelling is very true to the story but it adds almost nothing new to the events in Mansfield Park and certainly not a new perspective of Edmund Bertram. I would like to see what he does and think outside of the events in the book. He is certainly not a mysterious man but that does not make it all right to write almost nothing new.

[Lesley Barklay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't mind Amanda' Grange's Jane Austen Heroes series, but I have to confess, this one is my least favourite among the bunch. It's hard to spend so much time in Edmund's head as he pines after Mary Crawford.

Still, for fans of Mansfield Park, it has much of Austen's dialogue, and it gives us access to scenes she did not cover in the original story.

[Emanuellen Trizi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, Edmund is so Sweet! Although I roll my eyes half of the book, he is the sweetest Jane Austen hero (Darcy is au concour). A very nice touch, Amanda Grange does it again! I think Jane would be proud ;)

[M Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring......... which is not entirely the author's fault as the sanctimonious Edmund was the most tendious of all Jane Austen's creations. It is well written but Edmund's preachifying (to use a trumpism) bored me to tears and Fanny is apparently still searching for her own vertebrae.

[Jane Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good , although Edmond isn’t one of Austen’s most interesting hero. Worth reading

[djgalvan Sonia Galvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Change too sudden. But then I didn't like the original novel itself for the same reasons, so this is not really on Amanda Grange at all. Sorry, Jane. I 'shipped Crawford all along.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read some of these by Grange before- felt I picked this book up far more than the other diaries

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Summer Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As well-written as Grange’s other books, no doubt about that, but Mansfield Park and its characters were never my favorite.

[Rebecca McMahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! I am a JA super fan and this hit the spot. Mansfield Park has not been my favorite but I have loved this intimate look at the characters!

[Larissa ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I love Amanda Grange! She writes such elegant fluff. (It’s a high compliment from me! I devour these delicious, cotton candy novels.)

[Dorothy Alsenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to my 99-year-old mother. She loved it. Some of the language is kind of difficult to understand at times but overall is a good Reed.

[Elisewin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lettura piacevole. Moltissime cosa sarebbero da dire, ma considerando target e tipologia di libro, lasciamo che resti una lettura tranquilla, senza nessuna pretesa, per passare il tempo XD Fosse stato un diverso tema probabilmente mi sarei annoiata a morte, seguendo la storia della Austen ovviamente rimango ugualmente attaccata alle pagine!