Edmund Bertram's Diary

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 it means a lot of Edmund's diary entries are consumed with talk of Mary Crawford 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 eventhough 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 the original. 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 love 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:Captain Wentworth's Diary, Mr. Darcy's Diary, Mr. Knightley's Diary, and Colonel Brandon's Diary.