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Twisted Austen #3
Becoming Mrs. Norris: A Mansfield Park Prequel
Fanny Price's Aunt Norris is one of the most despised characters Jane Austen ever created, but how did she become so repulsive? Becoming Mrs. Norris explores the events that occurred before Mansfield Park, when Sir Thomas Bertram was courting Miss Maria Ward. This "Twisted Austen" tale was written in honor of Halloween and was first published serially on the author's blog, alexaadams.blogspot.com.
48 pages, ebook
First published November 1, 2014
3 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Alexa Adams
18 books108 followersA devoted reader of Jane Austen since her childhood, Alexa Adams is the author of several Austenesque novels and short stories including Being, Mrs. Bennet, Darcy in Wonderland, The Madness of Mr. Darcy, and Tales of Less Pride and Prejudice. Alexa is an American residing in Switzerland with her husband, daughter, and son. She blogs about Austen and Austenesque literature at alexaadams.blogspot.com and a founding member of the Jane Austen Society of Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 25, 2020
Feel sorry for the mean-hearted Mrs. Norris of Mansfield Park fame? I would have never thought to admit such a shocking truth. However, the Twisted Austen series with their strong hints of gothic can bring such horrors to reality.
Becoming Mrs. Norris is the story of a young Miss Ward and her two sisters, orphaned though not penniless and given over to the care of their skinflint, sneering uncle. The bitter man is no thief to steal their dowry though he skims the line. He is worse because he takes perverse pleasure in making the eldest Miss Ward's life a soul-sucking misery. She bares all he throws at her as shield to her younger sisters looking forward to the day she can marry Mr. Richards, her uncle's clerk.
When young Sir Thomas Bertram falls for Maria, Miss Ward is overjoyed that soon she can be away from the misery her uncle inflicts. Just when her dream is about to come true...
The Twisted Austen series are not happy or fluffy and they can most definitely make the reader uncomfortable because they twist characters and plots so that it scarifies the Austen tale and leaves the reader with a few shivers.
I love to hate Mrs. Norris for her awful character, but this prequel showing how she became such a monster was touching. The writing was great and the attention to the historical and fictional backdrop was well done.
I can recommend this one for those who want a different, more macabre, Austen experience.
Becoming Mrs. Norris is the story of a young Miss Ward and her two sisters, orphaned though not penniless and given over to the care of their skinflint, sneering uncle. The bitter man is no thief to steal their dowry though he skims the line. He is worse because he takes perverse pleasure in making the eldest Miss Ward's life a soul-sucking misery. She bares all he throws at her as shield to her younger sisters looking forward to the day she can marry Mr. Richards, her uncle's clerk.
When young Sir Thomas Bertram falls for Maria, Miss Ward is overjoyed that soon she can be away from the misery her uncle inflicts. Just when her dream is about to come true...
The Twisted Austen series are not happy or fluffy and they can most definitely make the reader uncomfortable because they twist characters and plots so that it scarifies the Austen tale and leaves the reader with a few shivers.
I love to hate Mrs. Norris for her awful character, but this prequel showing how she became such a monster was touching. The writing was great and the attention to the historical and fictional backdrop was well done.
I can recommend this one for those who want a different, more macabre, Austen experience.
April 15, 2020
Molto carina questa spiegazione che la Adams ci dà sul personaggio più odioso tra quelli creati dalla penna di Jane Austen. La povera Emily (??? Il nome non si sa, ma io avrei supposto che si chiamasse Elizabeth, visto che risulta essere madrina di una delle figlie di Mrs. Price - Beth, appunto - senza averla neanche mai incontrata, il che dovrebbe significare semplicemente che la bambina è stata chiamata come la zia, no?) deve rinunciare al suo amore per James Richards per colpa dello zio, un autentico Mr. Scrooge, da cui la primogenita cerca di proteggere come meglio può le due sorelle. Per lo meno, Mr. Norris sembra apprezzarla fin da subito, e l'uomo sa che Miss Price è stata innamorata di Mr. Richards (è addirittura lui a rivelarlo a Sir Thomas quando il baronetto comincia a corteggiare Maria Price) ed è stata costretta a rinunciarvi, per cui non ci sono ipocrisie.
March 28, 2017
4.5 stars
Very well written story of the Miss Wards, later on known as Mrs Morris, Lady Bertram and Mrs Price.
We discovered how was life for these three sisters after their parents died and we can see how awful their lives were mainly the eldest's (future Mrs Morris) as she tried to protect her younger sisters from their tyrant uncle. They live with a horrible uncle, Mr Ward, who treats them badly and enjoys being mean to them.
She is heartbroken because her sweetheart is sent away from her (his uncle again) and something else happens in between. She is at least glad that her sister Maria marries a lovely man but we cannot say the same as her youngest...
It is a really good story but I missed a bit more of the changes that made Mrs Morris so mean as we know her in Mansfield Park. She has enough reasons to be bitter but at the end of the book she does not seem as miserable.
Very well written story of the Miss Wards, later on known as Mrs Morris, Lady Bertram and Mrs Price.
We discovered how was life for these three sisters after their parents died and we can see how awful their lives were mainly the eldest's (future Mrs Morris) as she tried to protect her younger sisters from their tyrant uncle. They live with a horrible uncle, Mr Ward, who treats them badly and enjoys being mean to them.
She is heartbroken because her sweetheart is sent away from her (his uncle again) and something else happens in between. She is at least glad that her sister Maria marries a lovely man but we cannot say the same as her youngest...
It is a really good story but I missed a bit more of the changes that made Mrs Morris so mean as we know her in Mansfield Park. She has enough reasons to be bitter but at the end of the book she does not seem as miserable.
March 19, 2017
5 stars
It was a heartbreaking and realistic story about the Misses Ward and their life under the cruel uncle guardianship. Miss Ward took most of the abuse in attempt to protect her younger sisters, hoping that one day she would be able to break free, and marry a man she loved for years. Unfortunately her uncle's heartless decisions took everything from her.
I couldn't help, but feel for her, struggling to make the best of their miserable situation, even knowing what would become of her.
Great story, highly recommended.
It was a heartbreaking and realistic story about the Misses Ward and their life under the cruel uncle guardianship. Miss Ward took most of the abuse in attempt to protect her younger sisters, hoping that one day she would be able to break free, and marry a man she loved for years. Unfortunately her uncle's heartless decisions took everything from her.
I couldn't help, but feel for her, struggling to make the best of their miserable situation, even knowing what would become of her.
Great story, highly recommended.
January 20, 2020
Not the best subject
I enjoy this author's writing, and read this book solely because she wrote it. It's well done, but after reading her version of Mrs. Norris' backstory, I would have expected her to have been a nicer character in the novel Mansfield Park. Although she knows a lot of heartache and disappointment while growing up, I expect she would have been a compassionate figure to a girl taken from her home, whereas in the novel Mrs. Norris seems very cold and uncaring.
Mrs. Norris is a very strange character in the original book, one with a jaded and aloof attitude towards her family. Although this short story is well written, I can't say I'm glad I read it.
I enjoy this author's writing, and read this book solely because she wrote it. It's well done, but after reading her version of Mrs. Norris' backstory, I would have expected her to have been a nicer character in the novel Mansfield Park. Although she knows a lot of heartache and disappointment while growing up, I expect she would have been a compassionate figure to a girl taken from her home, whereas in the novel Mrs. Norris seems very cold and uncaring.
Mrs. Norris is a very strange character in the original book, one with a jaded and aloof attitude towards her family. Although this short story is well written, I can't say I'm glad I read it.
November 6, 2014
Becoming Mrs Norris è un breve racconto dell'autrice Alexa Adams, pubblicato a puntate sul suo blog in occasione di Halloween.
E' la prima volta che seguo con costanza un progetto del genere, ed è stato divertente; probabilmente è quanto di più si avvicina alla pubblicazione a puntate su quotidiani o riviste di quei classici che ora ospitiamo sulle nostre librerie.
Tornando alla storia, l'ho trovata interessante perché non avevo mai neppure pensato che Mrs Norris potesse essere la protagonista di un romanzo tutto suo, seppur, a ben pensarci, di lei non sappiamo poi tanto, e si potrebbe speculare molto sulla sua vita antecedente all'arrivo di Fanny a Mansfield.
Alexa Adams ci fa conoscere una Emily Ward (questo il nome dato alla protagonista) molto giovane, rimasta orfana di entrambi i genitori e costretta a vivere, insieme alle sorelle, sotto la tutela dell'odioso zio. Questi è uno dei personaggi che più mi ha fatto rabbia tra tutti quelli che ho finora incontrato nelle mie letture. Non si tratta di nulla di originale, in realtà, ma solo di un uomo avaro, egoista, ed estremamente malvagio, uno di quelli à la Scrooge che si possono incontrare facilmente, e che qualche tempo fa forse avrei anche trovato esagerato (ma, ahimé, tutti sappiamo che tipi del genere esistono eccome).
Ho apprezzato questa Emily che si erge come uno scudo tra le sorelle e lo zio, assorbendone tutti i colpi maggiori, e che avrebbe potuto avere una vita molto diversa, e di sicuro più felice (così come sarebbe potuto succedere a Francis, la madre di Fanny, mentre probabilmente l'unica a cui non poteva davvero andare meglio è Maria, colei che sarebbe diventata lady Bertram).
Francamente, non trovo che ci siano giustificazioni al comportamento di Mrs Norris nei riguardi della piccola Fanny, anche se questo romanzo tenta di fare luce sul cammino che ha portato il cuore della donna ad indurirsi ed a cercare una sorta di "vendetta" sulla figlia di quella che comunque era un'amata sorella. Personalmente, mi ha anche fatto riflettere, ancora una volta, su quanto i comportamenti degli adulti possano influire sulla vita dei più piccoli, lasciando loro un'eredità davvero triste.
Tutte le puntate mi sono piaciute molto, ma ho trovato la conclusione un po' troppo veloce: avrei voluto che i riflettori non si spegnessero così tanto presto su questa atipica eroina.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/
E' la prima volta che seguo con costanza un progetto del genere, ed è stato divertente; probabilmente è quanto di più si avvicina alla pubblicazione a puntate su quotidiani o riviste di quei classici che ora ospitiamo sulle nostre librerie.
Tornando alla storia, l'ho trovata interessante perché non avevo mai neppure pensato che Mrs Norris potesse essere la protagonista di un romanzo tutto suo, seppur, a ben pensarci, di lei non sappiamo poi tanto, e si potrebbe speculare molto sulla sua vita antecedente all'arrivo di Fanny a Mansfield.
Alexa Adams ci fa conoscere una Emily Ward (questo il nome dato alla protagonista) molto giovane, rimasta orfana di entrambi i genitori e costretta a vivere, insieme alle sorelle, sotto la tutela dell'odioso zio. Questi è uno dei personaggi che più mi ha fatto rabbia tra tutti quelli che ho finora incontrato nelle mie letture. Non si tratta di nulla di originale, in realtà, ma solo di un uomo avaro, egoista, ed estremamente malvagio, uno di quelli à la Scrooge che si possono incontrare facilmente, e che qualche tempo fa forse avrei anche trovato esagerato (ma, ahimé, tutti sappiamo che tipi del genere esistono eccome).
Ho apprezzato questa Emily che si erge come uno scudo tra le sorelle e lo zio, assorbendone tutti i colpi maggiori, e che avrebbe potuto avere una vita molto diversa, e di sicuro più felice (così come sarebbe potuto succedere a Francis, la madre di Fanny, mentre probabilmente l'unica a cui non poteva davvero andare meglio è Maria, colei che sarebbe diventata lady Bertram).
Francamente, non trovo che ci siano giustificazioni al comportamento di Mrs Norris nei riguardi della piccola Fanny, anche se questo romanzo tenta di fare luce sul cammino che ha portato il cuore della donna ad indurirsi ed a cercare una sorta di "vendetta" sulla figlia di quella che comunque era un'amata sorella. Personalmente, mi ha anche fatto riflettere, ancora una volta, su quanto i comportamenti degli adulti possano influire sulla vita dei più piccoli, lasciando loro un'eredità davvero triste.
Tutte le puntate mi sono piaciute molto, ma ho trovato la conclusione un po' troppo veloce: avrei voluto che i riflettori non si spegnessero così tanto presto su questa atipica eroina.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/
December 31, 2019
The story of the three Ward sisters who become Mrs Norris, Mrs Price and Lady Bertram. Mrs Norris a character you think you could never like is portrayed quite wonderful here as she grows up with her sisters in their uncles' home.
An enjoyable well-written prequel
An enjoyable well-written prequel
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews