A Contrary Wind

A Contrary Wind: A Variation on Mansfield Park | Lona Manning

so-so

I liked the beginning of this quite a bit, but it lost me pretty well around the middle. The author crammed in too many “what ifs” for my taste. That choice Fanny made… it just didn‘t suit her character at all. I was ALL IN for a governess Fanny romance with an abolitionist, but that wasn‘t what I got. #PemberLittens

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TheAromaofBooks

A Contrary Wind: A Variation on Mansfield Park | Lona Manning

pick

If you read Mansfield Park & felt like Fanny was (a) a bit too much of a hand-wringer & (b) ripped off by just getting chucked into being Edmund's wife in the last chapter, this variation may be for you! Here, the author deviates from the original by NOT having Sir Thomas arrive in time to put a halt to the Lovers' Vows nonsense. Austen's implied amorality of the Crawfords is explored much more here, & Fanny actually takes her own life in her ⬇️

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) own hands. I was a little concerned that the strand about slavery/slave ships/sugar plantations was going to feel like a modern writer just trying to work social justice into a historic story, but it's actually done very, very well, exploring how this issue was impacting different levels of society in different ways, & doing an excellent job providing characters who naturally take different views, allowing the reader to see how when an ⬇ 4y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) issue of this magnitude is just a part of “everyday life“ things that are obvious to us in retrospect were not as obvious to everyone, especially rich people who only received the benefits of slavery without ever even having to SEE the slaves themselves.

Fanny herself is only one of the characters in this story - much of it is about the Crawfords, Edmund, Fanny's brother William, the other Bertrams - but Manning keeps the storylines ⬇ 4y

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) balanced & kept me wanting to know what was going to happen with everyone, even the characters I didn't like. There were a couple of times that I found myself going “????“, on situation in particular that Fanny agrees to & like... I understood her motivation but... what exactly was the exit plan???

At any rate, rambling again, but this was a solid MP variation. It's interesting to read an Austen variation where, because no one really ⬇ 4y

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TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) ships the canon characters, the author is free to rearrange a lot of things. (As opposed to P&P where you KNOW that D&E have to end up together... otherwise, what's the point?!) This is the first book in a trilogy & I'm already into the second!!

#PemberLittens @sprainedbrain
#SeparatedbyaPondTour - Oxfordshire @Andrew65
#SeriesRead2021 @TheSpineView
#StackingtheSeries (level 1) @audraelizabeth
#DoubleSpin 4y

sprainedbrain I‘m glad you liked it! And I know exactly what head-scratcher of a choice you‘re talking about. 🤔 I just finished the second one! 4y

TheSpineView Awesome!👍📖 4y

Clare-Dragonfly I‘m about 40% in to this and haven‘t really seen any William yet—I look forward to him showing up! 4y

Andrew65 Doing well 😊 4y

Deblovestoread I really liked this one, too. It was a little long in parts but I was here for a more independent Fanny. Looking forward to the next in the trio 4y

TheAromaofBooks @sprainedbrain - I honestly almost bailed on the book when she made that decision, but decided to stick with it anyway & am glad I did, even if it did feel rather far-fetched haha 4y

TheAromaofBooks @Clare-Dragonfly - he shows up more in the second book as well. I'm mostly aggravated that if the author was going to make up another character to befriend Fanny... why would she name him William also?! There are so many other options?? Why must we have two Williams?! 4y

TheAromaofBooks @Kdgordon88 - Yes, there were some areas where I felt like the pacing slowed a lot, although I suppose that is in keeping with the pace of the original as well haha 4y

Clare-Dragonfly @TheAromaofBooks Maybe she‘s poking some fun at Jane Austen‘s own tendency to give female characters all the same name—too many Marys and Marias and Janes! 😆 4y

Clare-Dragonfly But also… William Gibson is already the name of a famous author?! Why would you do that. 4y

TheAromaofBooks @Clare-Dragonfly - I just don't know!! I found her incorporation of real people into her stories to be slightly confusing. In the third book, when there's this whole thing involving the poet Shelley like... I found it rather uncomfortable that she was putting him in situations/conversations that she's just making up?? I don't know, it just was a little weird lol 4y

Clare-Dragonfly It often bugs me when fiction uses real historical figures as characters. It feels like they‘re writing fanfic and I‘m not in that fandom so I‘m just missing stuff. 4y

TheAromaofBooks @Clare-Dragonfly - Especially when it's like this, as side/background characters. I can understand someone writing a historical fiction story with a real-life character as their main person (although honestly it's still not my thing), but just mixing them in here & there just leaves me confused about who is real & who isn't lol 4y

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TheAromaofBooks

A Contrary Wind: A Variation on Mansfield Park | Lona Manning

#WeeklyForecast - I finished Call Down the Hawk last night & started the tagged book this morning. It's the first in a trilogy, so if I enjoy it - & I am so far - I'll read the next two as well. Then I am on to a couple TBR books & some library holds. Not sure how far I'll get - I think this is going to be a month with a lot of rollover from one #BookSpin list to the next!! @Cinfhen

Cinfhen That‘s cool ~ just roll with it 🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲 4y

rockpools Unicorns, PG Wodehouse & Led Zep. That‘s some reading 😁👍👍👍 4y

TheAromaofBooks @rockpools - I like to keep it eclectic 😂 4y

71 likes3 comments

sprainedbrain

A Contrary Wind: A Variation on Mansfield Park | Lona Manning

pick

I‘m a little bit floored... I just spent 5 hours reading an Austen variation (of my second least favorite Austen) that not only doesn‘t suck at all, but I DARESAY may be a bit of an improvement on the original?

Manning‘s writing is so good to make me forget this isn‘t Jane‘s story—this book picks up Mansfield Park at Chapter 15... a contrary wind delays Sir Thomas‘ return, and without the abrupt halt of Lover‘s Vows, events go very differently ⬇️

sprainedbrain Fanny makes a bold move, Maria makes some different (bad) choices, the Crawfords are officially THE WORST people ever, we get some scenes that are waaay more risqué than Jane ever got, more William, a few whole new characters who fit in seamlessly, a season in London, and some frank discussion of slavery that I was absolutely there for. Did I mention it could still pass as Austen‘s voice for a large portion of the book? Simply brilliant... ⬇️ (edited) 4y

sprainedbrain And omg there are two more books? I can‘t believe I‘m saying this, but I need more Fanny Price in my life and have already downloaded the second one. 😳

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

#PemberLittens (edited) 4y

LiteraryinPA Whoa, that is quite the endorsement! 4y

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Bookwormjillk Stacked it! 4y

MayJasper I am going to have to follow you on this path because the Jane Austen Fanny is such a prig I'm my opinion. 4y

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! This trilogy is in my plan for this week, so I'm stoked to hear that you enjoyed the first one!! 4y

Andrea313 Wow! I was really in the fence about this series, but am going to have to give it a try! Thanks for the review. 4y

Deblovestoread Well, this just changed my reading plan for the week. On my way to get a copy....😁 4y

Deblovestoread I‘m back..all three in the trilogy are $2.99 on kindle. 🤣 4y

sprainedbrain @Kdgordon88 they are also on Kindle Unlimited! I did the free trial (again) and I‘m actually going to read some KU books this time! 🤣 4y

sprainedbrain @LiteraryinLititz @Bookwormjillk @MayJasper @TheAromaofBooks @Andrea313 @Kdgordon88 I forgot to mention in my middle-of-the-night review that I really liked what this book did with Tom‘s character, too. The only reason I didn‘t give this book 5 stars is that it gets a bit drawn out at parts and I think it could have been a bit condensed. Those of you that decide to read it, I hope you enjoy it and I haven‘t led you too far astray. 🤣 4y

TheAromaofBooks I also get a little nervous when I like a book & then someone else decides to read it because of my review... like what if I actually have horrible tastes in books?! 😂 4y

Linsy Ooh, I'm intrigued! 4y

Clare-Dragonfly I really wanted to like what she did with Tom‘s character but I didn‘t feel like it was set up well enough—and also it was just another “what if” crammed into a book that was already too full! 4y

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