Mansfield Park and Mummies: Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love, and Other Dire Delights

Supernatural Jane Austen #1

by Vera Nazarian

MANSFIELD PARK AND Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love, and Other Dire Delights Spinsterhood or Mummification! Ancient Egypt infiltrates Regency England in this elegant, hilarious, witty, insane, and unexpectedly romantic monster parody of Jane Austen's classic novel. Our gentle yet indomitable heroine Fanny Price must hold steadfast not only against the seductive charms of Henry Crawford but also an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh! Meanwhile, the indubitably handsome and kind hero Edmund attempts Exorcisms... Miss Crawford vamps out... Aunt Norris channels her inner werewolf... The Mummy -mesmerized Lady Bertram collects Egyptian artifacts... There can be no doubt that Mansfield Park has become a battleground for the forces of Ancient Evil and Regency True Love! Gentle Reader -- this Delightful Edition includes Scholarly Footnotes and Appendices.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Retellings, Historical Fiction, Historical

568 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2009

About the author

Vera Nazarian is a two-time Nebula Award Finalist, award-winning artist, and member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a writer with a penchant for moral fables and stories of intense wonder, true love, and intricacy.

She immigrated to the USA from the former USSR as a kid, sold her first story at the age of 17, and since then has published numerous works in anthologies and magazines, and has seen her fiction translated into eight languages.

She is the author of critically acclaimed novels Dreams of the Compass Rose and Lords of Rainbow , romantic Renaissance epic fantasy trilogy Cobweb Bride , as well as the outrageous parodies Mansfield Park and Mummies and Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons , Pride and Platypus: Mr. Darcy's Dreadful Secret in her humorous and surprisingly romantic Supernatural Jane Austen Series , and most recently the bestselling high-octane science fiction series The Atlantis Grail , now optioned for film.

After many years in Los Angeles, Vera lives in a small town in Vermont, and uses her Armenian sense of humor and her Russian sense of suffering to bake conflicted pirozhki and make art.

Take the fun quiz to find out Which of the Lords of Rainbow do You Serve?

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shy, timid Fanny Price finds herself up against a dreamy ancient mummy, a cold vampire rival, werewolves in the hedgerows, and all sorts of family hijinks in this lighthearted mashup of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and the supernatural. Having read the later entries in Vera Nazarian's Supernatural Austen series, I came back to the one that started it all for an entertaining time.

As described, this is Jane Austen's Mansfield Park infused and enlivened by a monster mash of supernatural creatures. The author seemed to retain all of the original while plugging in the additional elements. The mummy side of matters happens when Lady Bertram innocently accepts the keeping of part of a British scholar's Egyptian collection he brought back from Egypt and requires a place to store it. Little did they know that there were powerful mystical artifacts in the collection and a pharaoh who has seen his beloved reincarnated in pretty Fanny Price.

Meanwhile, Aunt Norris gets furry and beastly under the full moon and Miss Crawford has a cold vampiric heart though she has warmed to the idea of handsome Edmund Bertram being hers.

Fanny has her hands full and can only watch in astonishment as events play out around her until she is called upon to show her own brand of courage when needed most.

Like with the others in the series, I did find the pacing sometimes off and lagging and it sometimes felt as if the supernatural elements were crammed in rather than meshed. However, mostly, I had a rollicking good time with this lightweight monster romp set in Jane Austen's novel.

[Sherwood Smith]

There are three Austen mash-ups that I like: this one, Jane Bites Back, and James Fairfax, each for different reasons.

This one is just plain fun. Crazy, Monty-Python fun. Nazarian does a much better job than the zombies or seamonster guys in tinkering with Austen's text--in this case, Mansfield Park, to add in werewolves, vamps, and the sort of late-nineteenth century weird Egyptian mythology motifs that, overlying the restrained set-pieces Austen gives us, makes a funnier contrast.

I could hear various Python voices reading it aloud, which added to the effect. The narrative voice was a sort of glutinous Vincent Price. (I would dearly love it if someone podcasted it.)

[Kimberley Fligor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't make it past page 109. Any supernatural parody of Jane Austen is bound to be a bit odd, so I wasn't expecting anything terribly high brow, but there is a fine line between silly that's funny and silly that's dumb. For me, this book crossed that line one too many times. First, there's the dumb footnotes. Second, the 'wolf speak' that one of the werewolf characters uses. The straw that broke the camel's back was the scene when the Pharaoh comes back to life. Seriously, why can't he undo his own bandages? All the other mummies don't seem to have had a problem with it. And of all the miscommunication problems the author could have focused on, she chose muffled muttering. It was especially annoying since until now, Lady Bertram had had no trouble communicating telepathically. All of this was topped off with WAY too many "Your mummyship" platitudes. I get that this lady isn't the most cerebral character of all time, but that's kind of childish, condescending, and dumb.

All of that being said, there were good parts. I liked how the author slowly built up to the mummies awakening, adding just a hint of mystery to all of the character building scenes. While I felt that the werewolf thing was way too overdone in one character, it didn't detract from the spinster aunt. And I loved what I saw of Fanny's character. I found her so easy to relate to. (Although, to be fair, that might have been thanks to Austin herself.) In all, while some people might find it funny, I did not. It felt like the author was trying too hard.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please note: As always, if you are reading this review on a site that does not allow formatting, to see formatting, links, etc. please visit my blog, Now is Gone. Links can always be found in my profile, on every site I on which I'm a member.

Book Info: Genre: Classic Literature parody
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of Jane Austen who enjoy a laugh, people who enjoy parodies, Vera Nazarian fans

My Thoughts: This was the first of the supernatural Jane Austen parodies that Nazarian wrote. I can see that her abilities have increased with practice, as this one is not nearly as rib-splitting as the second, which is not nearly as hilarious as the third. Nonetheless, now I see from whence came both the Brighton Duck and the horrible afflictions found in the third book; it is all developed starting here. Therefore I shall say that while the books may indeed be read out of order, I recommend that you read them in publication date if you are able, just to see that development.

The parody aspect of this book is good, but not as good as the two later books in this series. I imagine it's due to the source material, as Mansfield Park was just a snorefest to me. The book is very long, and there is much too much handwringing and “oh dear” and “what will the neighbors think” and general fluttering for me. And “poor little timid Fanny”—oh, I just wanted to wring her neck sometimes! I know Jane Austen in the original was probably as much making fun of society as anything, but there was just too much in this one to hold my attention or amuse me as much as the others. This absolutely will not stop me from pouncing on any new books that Vera Nazarian might decide to parody, of course, as her satires and parodies are top notch.

You have to realize that this book probably suffered in comparison to its two excellent followups as well, because books 2 and 3 in the Supernatural Jane Austen series really tickled my funny bone, so I had very high expectations for this one. Probably if I'd read this one first, I would have enjoyed it more. I was quite amused by Lady Bertram and her vague fondnesses and her obsession with Egyptology, although I didn't much care for the unfaithful and vindictive Maria nor Julie, and Mrs. Norris was an obnoxious waste of resources.

If you like Jane Austen, if you like classic literature parodies, if you liked Mansfield Park, then you might enjoy Mansfield Park and Mummies. Do not miss the other two books in this series, which in my opinion are much funnier than this one; that information is below.

Series Information: The Supernatural Jane Austen series consists of parodies of all of Jane Austen's major books. They are all standalone and can be read in any order. The order listed is simply the order of publication.
Book 1: Mansfield Park and Mummies: Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love, and other Dire Delights
Book 2: Northanger Abbey and Angels and Demons, review linked here
Book 3: Pride and Platypus: Mr. Darcy's Dreadful Secret, review linked here

Disclosure: I purchased this book for myself. No review has been requested. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Spinsterhood or Mummification.

Ancient Egypt infiltrates Regency England in this elegant, hilarious, witty, insane, and unexpectedly romantic monster parody of Jane Austen's classic novel.

Our gentle yet indomitable heroine Fanny Price must hold steadfast not only against the seductive charms of Henry Crawford but also an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh

Meanwhile, the indubitably handsome and kind hero Edmund attempts Exorcisms... Miss Crawford vamps out... Aunt Norris channels her inner werewolf... The Mummy-mesmerized Lady Bertram collects Egyptian artifacts...

There can be no doubt that Mansfield Park has become a battleground for the forces of Ancient Evil and Regency True Love.

[Ana Mardoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mansfield Park and Mummies / 978-1-60-762047-1

I loved "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" and "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", and I really wanted to love "Mansfield Park and Mummies", but I felt that this book was such a rushed and sloppy attempt to cash-in on the current "Austen and monsters" trend that I really cannot recommend it to anyone.

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" were both wonderfully good laughs largely because they perfectly imitated the ebb and flow of Austen's writing style, and because they took the basic format of the source novels, and then reworked the text into a whole new narrative - completely new material, but with a completely authentic Austen feel. "Mansfield Park and Mummies", however, completely fails to imitate Austen's style - the parts where Author Nazarian's writing takes over occur with an almost audible 'clunk'. Furthermore, the source text doesn't feel rewritten into a whole new story - it feels like "Mansfield Park" but with random references to mummies and werewolves shoe-horned forcibly in. When you strip that subtlety away, you've lost a large part of the "Austen and monsters" humor.

Frustratingly, the lack of subtlety doesn't end there. The "scholarly notes" that sprinkle the book from page to page strain so hard at being funny, they might as well have been written in flashing neon pink. The "note" for "her bitter answer to her sisters put an end to all intercourse (1) between them" is a bald-faced "Ahem!". Ha, ha, it's a *sex* joke! Get it? 'Cause 'intercourse' means a little something different now than it did then? Moving on: the footnote for "adze" is, "An ancient metal thing. Seriously, thou needst google it." I don't even know what to say about this - why is a note in an Austen novel written in Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe? It feels like some poor, beleaguered editor rushed through this novel in one evening, adding 'funny' footnotes in order to get the book out to press the next morning.

Beyond all the juvenile let's-snicker-because-Ms.-Austen-said-'intercourse' folderol, this novel fails because too much was attempted here. The backdrop is "mummies", but that doesn't stop Nazarian from insistently shoe-horning in werewolves, because the two themes work so well together, after all. Perhaps the editors thought that the previous two books had zombies AND sea monsters in the same novel and wanted to present an equally bizarre juxtaposition, who knows.

Overall, this feels like a rushed product, hurried out to milk as much as possible out of the PPZ/SSSM fad, in the hopes that good writing, careful world building, and actual humor were optional. I'm only sorry I paid full price for it.

~ Ana Mardoll

[Kim Miner Litton · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I could, I would probably give this 2 and a 1/2 stars.

I'm not sure why I keep reading these mash-ups. I thought that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was going to be the best way to re-read Jane Austen ever. As much as the girl in me loves the characters created by Jane Austen, the reader in me knows that the plots slow and plodding, moved forward not by action but by the slow passage of time. Here was the promise of everything good, the charm of Jane Austen + random monster violence.

It doesn't work. It might have worked for a skit for SNL or for a movie (perhaps the Graphic Novel fixes it.) However, all of the comedy of these mash-ups rely so heavily on the joke set up in the title that the humor runs really thin before we run out of prose.

What I will say about Mansfield Park and Mummies, specifically, is that of the four Austen mash-ups I have read, it respects the material the most. You can tell that the author is well-aquainted with and a fan of Mansfield Park, which I'm almost certain Ben Winters and Seth Grahame-Smith are not. This leads to far fewer sociopathic tendencies in the new incarnations of the characters than in the other versions I've read.

I really disliked in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies how Seth Grahame-Smith resorted to poop and penis jokes to try to get some more cheap laughs out of what was an ailing comedy. In Mansfield Park and Mummies, the footnotes offer us endless jokes about the word "intercourse" and its use in the text. It was not very funny the first time and it was certainly not funny the 27th time. I felt like I was back in high school english lit class with the meatheads in the back snickering behind me.

I really think that Ms. Nazarian does what she can with the material she has (footnotes not withstanding, I wish everyone of them had been removed). There is definite creativity in the story as she juggles not just Mummies but werewolves and vampires as well. Because she knows Mansfield Park, the new parts were integrated much better than in other mash-ups I have read that felt like poor cuting and pasting. I'll also give it to her that Mansfield Park is a more challenging Austen text, since the characters are a little less likable and the plot even more uneventful then her more beloved classics.

Still, despite my reading these mash-ups over and over looking for them to be hilarious, I realize that they just aren't and never will be. It's time for the fad to end.

[Castiron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a lot of fun, and Nazarian's additions made sense with the established personalities of Austen's characters.

My one issue with it (and one I'm sure I'd have with other AustenBook And SupernaturalCritter books): There didn't seem to be enough repercussions from some of the events. For example, if a flock of mummies attacks at a ball, people are going to be talking about it, wondering about it, etc. for years afterward. And you'd expect that event to have further effects on the plot, which largely seems absent. As long as I'm reading it with my "Having Some Silly Fun with Austen" hat on, I can take it in stride, but once I put on my "Speculative Fiction" hat, I start wondering why nothing changed as a result of it.

Still, it was a good piece of Austen-based entertainment.

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit it, I am a sucker for these Austen mash-ups. This is the 5th one I've read and the second by Vera Nazarian. While this is no substitute for Austen's original, it was a fun read and I liked the way the added parts of the book enhanced Austen's characters and story. For example, explanations are given why Lady Bertram is always so mild and half-alseep all the time (it's like she's under a spell or something) and why Aunt Norris is so mean. Fanny Price has always been for me the most boring of Austen's heroines and this book gave her a little bit more of a draw for me.

Not everyone likes these type of books because it lessens Jane Austen's authorial accomplishments but I think she would be flattered.

[Tracy S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always thought that Mansfield Park is the weakest of all of Jane Austin's books. The heroine, Fanny Price is a weaker character than Elizabeth Bennett and less interesting than either Miss Dashwood.

Not so in Mansfield Park and Mummies, where she is elevated to the status of mummy fighter and vampire hunter (but sadly, not slayer). The book is filled with hilarious footnotes and modern slants on Austin's historic social commentary. The author's deft touches keep the book interesting throughout it's considerable length.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mansfield Park and Mummies is an unapologetically silly paranormal spoof of Jane Austen's third novel. Mummies might have been chosen for alliterative purposes, since all sorts of dark creatures permeate the story which closely follows the original plot. The "scholarly footnotes" are also silly admonishments lest the reader harbors prurient thoughts when words like "intercourse" are used. Although there were gross historical inaccuracies and some editorial oversights, I thought it was a light, fun read which made me want to read the original Austen.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodness, this is just killing me. P&P&Zombies was AMAZING, but so far all of the other spoofs I've read have really failed. I haven't actually read all of regular Mansfield Park yet, which is bad, I know, so that made it a little confusing. The author just tried way too hard to make it clever and mysterious and intriguing, so then it wasn't. I hate giving something connected to Jane 2 stars, but it was just dull and dragging.

[Rex Libris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mansfield Park & Mummies is another Jane Austen mash-up, injecting werewolves, vampires, and re-animated pharoah into the staid English countryside of Mansfield Park.

As awhole the story does not hang together as well as the original. Oftentimes it is just a series of scenes with werewolves, mummies or a beatly duck injected into them. However, the stregnth of the individual nignettes is enough to make the book a hilarious read.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining entry into the Austen with monsters subsubgenre. Nazarian does a nice job integrating the Egyptology into "Mansfield Park," and making it a bit more fun (it's not my favorite Austen, I must admit).
My only complaint is the number of typos which will hopefully get corrected in subsequent editions.
Edited to add: have just been told that they've been addressed in the later edition.

[M Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciously spooftastic. Not for those who take their Austen too seriously. An excessively silly book that I was extremely sorry to see end. Imagine intoxicated Monty Python writers let loose on the text of Mansfield Park while locked in the 'Ancient Egypt Wing' of a museum and you may get an idea of just how inordinately absurd this book is. Two desiccated rag-wrapped skeletal thumbs up.

[Elizabeth]

When I saw the name of the book, I couldn't resist myself to open this page. Super hilarious!!! yeah, we got all the vampire and werewolf things for Jane Austen's rewrites....but 'mummies' is totally beyond my expectation. Must grab this sometimes XD

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious, but extraordinarily long. If it were 200 pp shorter, it would have been perfect.

[Alexa Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://alexaadams.blogspot.com/2010/05/mansfield-park-and-mummies-by-jane.html

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather hilarious adaption of Mansfield Park! I enjoyed the little add-ins, and mummy bits, which flowed very nicely with the rest of the story.

[Jimmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilarious. Better than pride and prejudice and zombies. BEST BALL EVER!!!

[Terri Luer · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun. Mummies!! I think it's more a 3 1/2 stars kind of read, but that's not an option here, and I felt 3 stars wasn't strong enough. So... 4 stars it is!

[Foggygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaing romp through Jane Austen's world of Mansfield Park with the added bonous of Mummies, werewolves and vampires.

[Wendy Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something the supernatural that makes Classic Literature so much more fascinating!

[Karey Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it was a bit slow in parts, this book was very fun.

[Misty Krueger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an interesting reading of Mansfield Park.

[Kristin Hennessy-McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third of the "Austen + immortal creature" novels I've read. I think it is also my last. While I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters was okay, this one lost me. I think my biggest problem with this novel is that it deviated so drastically from Austen's original that it was hard to tell that it was a derivation of Mansfield Park. The characters were there, and some of the story was the same, but so much was changed that it left me hungering for the original.

The footnotes are distracting as well. It is though the author wants to make jokes about the words used in regency England, and the meanings of the words then, and then chastise the reader for making teenage references that would never have come into their minds. It was very annoying at best, and made the flow of the book that much worse.

I would not recommend this book to my friends, I would say, if you want to read this type of novel, stick with the original.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This warrants 2 stars from me because overall, it was a pretty entertaining read (which it's meant to be), but the footnotes deterring people from sexual references got really old really fast. To be honest, I would think if someone picked this novel up, they'd be relatively familiar with Austen's writing (I hope!) and wouldn't need to know what these words mean. Honestly, they're pretty self-explanatory. I know she's doing it for fun, but honestly, it got pretty annoying.

Finally, I truly wish she'd have focused on the mummies. I don't understand why every horror genre needed to appear. She didn't focus a lot on them, but they were rather a distraction and I don't understand why they needed to be included (i.e. Zombies, etc.).

[Atlantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely did not enjoy this installment of the series of re-written stories by Jane Austen involving the supernatural. I enjoyed much more "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters." The added mummies and mayhem in this book just seemed haphazard and spotty and with having just read the original "Mansfield Park" it was also unfortunately a bit of a bore. Never mind though...on to the next book...

[Tonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I love Austen and the tales relating to her. I loved "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" was OK, and this one followed the story rather well, but kept throwing in all kinds of monsters dealing with Egyptian artifacts. My biggest pet peeve was all the spelling errors. Get an editor! I couldn't handle it. I didn't finish it.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full props for the effort that went into this adaptation but I think she might have tried to cover just a little too much in the end. An incredibly faithful adaptation this is though with some fun added scenes but in the end, not really worth the 500+ pages.

[Bettie]

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