The Youngest Miss Ward: A Jane Austen Sequel

by Joan Aiken

Jane Austen's Mansfield Park famously narrates the story of Fanny Price moving in with the Ward family. Written almost two centuries later, Joan Aiken's powerful sequel introduces us t The Youngest Miss Ward, Hatty.

Although creative, charismatic and witty, Hatty Ward lacks the beauty that her older sisters inherited - leaving her to care for their ill mother and without a dowry once they are married off. Sent to Portsmouth to live with her rumbustious uncle and cousins, Hatty turns her creative flair to poetry and believes she'll become a governess, that is until handsome Lord Camber passes through town...

With imagination and authenticity Joan Aiken captures the customs and language of Austen's England in this one of a kind sequel, revealing a subversive and unique heroine. H

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Regency, Romance, English Literature, British Literature

373 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe people would not be so harsh in the reviews of this book if it stood on its own merits and did not beg to be compared with Jane Austen. Joan Aiken is more known for her gothic Romances than a writer in the style of Jane Austin. This book definately has some of the Gothic motifs with sickly abnormal-hidden away children, love relationships frustrated and in the end unfulfilled, fires etc. Jane loved a happy ending of sorts with the heroine happily attached to the man of her desire. Joan doesn't give us this. Instead she quickly ties things up in the end by pairing the heroine up with someone else. It just did not tie up as neatly as Jane would have done it.

When you pick up a Jane Austen novel, you expect to be dazzled with turns of phrases and wit that stuns you. You expect to reread passages and marvel at how that is just the perfect way to express something. Joan does not capture this essence of a Jane Austen style novel. She interjects some beautiful poetic couplets and stanzas. She also creates a plausible character and add an interesting layer to the whole Mansfield Park story. I mean I felt like "It could have happened that way" after reading the book.

There is one part of the book that seemed altogether implausible to me though. Joan has the character Fannie Price ( who in both the Novel Mansfield Park and this one, is always imposing upon the mercy of her relatives for financial or other assistance) send a letter refusing to accept any more financial assistance from Hattie due to her embarrassing marriage to a butler. She gives as the reason that her other two sisters have told her she must for Fanny's sake and the family's good name. I believe in reality it would be more realistic for her to have continued to accept the assistance when it was sent.

I believe this book would not suffer such bad reviews if the readers' appetites were not prejudiced to expect another MANSFIELD PARK or PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

[Rina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing style of Joan Aiken, the book was easy to read amd I really enjoyed the book until the last chapters. I was really disappointed by the ending: it was not reasonable and reminded me of some bad soap operas.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this is a perfect example of why GoodReads is a godsend: I hate it when I realize more than halfway through a novel that I've already read it, long before the GoodReads days. Hmph. All that aside, I enjoyed this novel both times (and I had forgotten the ending). The writing is only slightly more lively than Jane Austen's own, so it doesn't feel too modern. The biggest problem I have with the current craze to re-make Austen's novels is the inability of modern writers to reign in their characters, as they would have been constrained by social mores in the early 19th century. Even worse are those try too hard to stunt their characters' speech and behavior, which only works in parody [i.e. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:]. This author is rightfully regarded as one of the best Austen acolytes, because she doesn't overdo it. She simply deals with any inconsistencies by putting her protagonist into unusual circumstances; there was only one swooning "Where am I?" episode, thankfully. It is fun to find some of Austen's own characters popping up in the story - and it is refreshing that this heroine isn't consumed with the pursuit of a wealthy husband; she is content to make her own way in the world, more like Jane Austen herself than one of her characters.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un prequel di Mansfield Park molto gradevole; un ottimo romanzo storico che spiega come mai questa quarta sorella Ward, Harriet (Hatty) venga dimenticata, praticamente cancellata da parte delle tre sorelle Ward maggiori: la terribile Mrs. Norris (che qui si chiama Agnes), l'apatica Lady Bertram e la prolifica Frances Price. All'inizio la storia è molto simile allo stesso Mansfield Park, tanto che, visto che ne stavo leggendo un altro retelling, mi sono sentita costretta a interrompermi per non confondere le due storie. Hatty - la cui madre è in fin di vita - viene mandata a crescere a casa di uno zio (anche lui Ward), e qui è educata dalla zia Polly a cui si affeziona moltissimo, ma che non ha alcuna autorità sui figli mggiori e, soprattutto, sulle due figlie minori (due gemelle difficili e con problemi nervosi piuttosto gravi, su cui incombe la figura autoritaria di una bambinaia che finirà con lo sposare lo zio alla morte delle gemelle e della zia).
In effetti, a ripensarci a freddo, ho compreso che Aiken abbia voluto scrivere una sorta di what if proprio di MP, in cui il cugino Edmund (qui Ned) è minore di lei, ma ugualmente si innamora di una ragazzina smorfiosa deludendo Hatty, che provava del tenero per lui. La cacciata da casa dello zio, inoltre, non sarà affatto temporanea, ma Hatty non si tratterrà a lungo a casa del padre, a causa della stessa morte del genitore.
In realtà, questo è un romanzo molto dinamico, con molti dei personaggi che si spostano avanti e indietro per l'Inghilterra e anche all'estero, in cui si riflette molto sulla condizione femminile. La maggior parte delle donne del romanzo, infatti, vengono sballottolate per l'Inghilterra alla mercé di parenti - che, quando va bene, le sopportano - o abbandonate a se stesse a vegetare in case poco accoglienti, senza alcuna compagnia. Solo alcune di loro riescono a poter scegliere della loro vita, come Hatty che, avendo doti letterarie - scrive versi che le scaturiscono spontaneamente - riesce a mantenersi con la scrittura, anche se è costretta a usare uno pseudonimo maschile.
Ho alcune riserve riguardo alle mille conoscenze di Hatty quando va a fare da istitutrice alle due difficili figlie del Conte di Elstow. Dove avrà potuto imparare così tante cose con sua madre prima e a casa di zia Polly poi? Mi sembra che le sue illimitate conoscenze siano esagerate. Poi non mi è piaciuta una clausola dell'eredità che la rende definitivamente indipendente, pur non facendolo affatto. Secondo la clausola, Hatty doveva sposarsi entro i ventun anni per ricevere il denaro, ma non doveva essere a conoscenza del lascito, al contrario dei legali nelle cui mani passava il testamento della prozia Winchilsea, tra cui ci sono quelle del cugino Sydney, che, infatti, tenta di sposarla in ogni modo possibile, pur non avendo mai dimostrato in alcun modo di tenere a lei. Naturalmente, i soldi saranno poi amministrati dal marito di Hatty, non da lei, viste le leggi inglesi dell'epoca, quindi questo colpo di scena, sebbene serva a riscattare in un certo qual senso Hatty, non è certo una mossa così avveduta da parte della prozia.
Comunque un buon derivato austeniano, proprio perché tratta di un personaggio cancellato dalla storia delle sorelle Ward e quindi dai possibili legami con Mansfield Park.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a spin-off of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park-more of a prequel considering it detailed the young adult years of the parents in the original story (Mrs. Norris, Lady Bertram, etc). Hatty was the often neglected and forgotten younger sister of the soon-to-be Lady Bertram, Mrs. Norris and Mrs. Price. I enjoyed it until I hit the end-the story derailed a bit from the expected regency plot line with an elopement to Revolutionary France, a Native American bride and a romance completely out of the blue.

[Judith Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy, a novel about one of Jane Austen’s minor characters! More Jane Austen! As one who has read and re-read all of Austen’s novels, always wishing that she had written more, I grabbed this.
Aiken has written other Austen sequels (http://joanaiken.com/pages/janeausten...), which I have read with pleasure. This one is an oddity.
Harriet’s sisters include the mother of Fanny Price, of Mansfield Park. Her other sisters are Fanny’s indolent aunt, Lady Bertram, and the horrible Mrs. Norris.
Hatty is afflicted with an interesting life. On her beloved mother’s death, she is sent to live with her stiff uncle, warm-hearted aunt, and boy cousins. Then Lady Ursula, who hates Hatty as much as Mrs. Norris disliked Fanny Price, marries Hatty’s father. As a result, our heroine becomes governess to a couple of verifiably insane young women. Etcetera.
But the ending is not the usual Austen ending, where the good get married and the evil get their comeuppance. It has a charming, if anachronistic, feminist slant. Meanwhile, however, you get all the fun of a world of Austen characters and language.

[Jasmine H · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a sequel to Austen's Mansfield Park but did not do it any justice. Rather than adding on to Austen's novel, it made me overly confused and not enjoy it. This was partly because of the language since it did not reflect the classic, english language seen in classics but rather an attempt to insert big words just to seem as if it were replicating the language but did not actually. I liked the concept of the letters introduced in Part 2 and 3 but I felt it was quite repetitive and not much was happening and it was all based on the fact that we were waiting for Hatty to leave Underwood Priors or Lord Camber to return. I felt Lady Ursula being ushered out of the Thatched Grotto or the return of Lord Camber should have been very significant moments in the novel and therefore require more time or reflection but it was very rushed. In the end, what the point of the novel was, Hatty did not end up with Lord Camber and she just passes it over.

[whalesister · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd heard Joan Aiken wrote regency spin-offs, so I thought I'd try this, which is supposedly one of her best, and Aiken is supposedly the best of the regency-writers. My verdict: NO ONE should try to write Jane Austen except Jane Austen. Do people who genuinely like Austen really read and enjoy these? Endless, tiresome back-story explanations, boring language use (archaic words are not inherently interesting when plopped into dull fiction), a failure of a plot-twist at the end, and a miserable attempt to capture Austen's voice. Sorry, only Austen could ever write like herself, no matter how many of her characters an author steals. Some of this book's characters were interesting, but that's not enough to save what didn't work about this novel.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yea!!! I have a new author that I just love! Not many can follow Jane Austen and do it well, but Joan Aiken has. With The Youngest Miss Ward she has written a companion novel to Mansfield Park that is excellent. My only issue with it was the ending which didn't quite go the direction I would have liked; sort of an out of the blue conclusion.

Last night I started her...Mansfield Revisited, a sequal to Mansfield Park that looks promising as well.

[Barbara M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe das Buch in einem offenen Bücherschrank, in diesem Fall in einer Telefonzelle in Waidhofen, gefunden - mein erstes von Joan Aiken. Hauptsächlich als Roman mit allwissender Erzählinstanz konzipiert, wobei auch Dialoge nicht zu kurz kommen, sind auch einige Kapitel beigefügt, die aus Briefen bestehen, die wie in einigen Büchern von Aiken Vorbild Jane Austen, eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Eingrenzen der Figuren, insbesondere die Heldin Hattie, stehen beim Lesen gleich vor Augen. Die Entwicklung mancher Figuren, so z. B. der Lady Ursula, waren mir nicht recht einleuchtend. Der Roman spielt hauptsächlich in England, doch sind das Frankreich der Französischen Revolution und die "Neue Welt" Nebenschauplätze, die insbesondere in den Briefen Erwähnung finden. Das Ende, insbesondere die Volte zum Schluss, konnte mich nicht recht überzeugend. Dennoch interessieren mich nun die weiteren Austen-"Fortsetzungen" von Aiken.

[Amy Meyers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, that was as disappointing as Emma Watson. I will not be reading any more Aiken attempts to spin-off of Austen. Like what I said in my review of Emma Watson, Aiken does an amazing job at vocabulary and writing style matching Austen, but her plot and character development and credibility are severely lacking. What in the world was that ending? Similar to Emma Watson, she builds up a romance to a guy who is gone away for most of the book, then all of the sudden pulls a surprise ending and marries off the main character to someone to whom we readers haven't formed an attachment at all. It is a really lame "surprise," and actually makes me as a reader mistrust and dislike Aiken. Don't play games with your readers. The whole thing was implausible. Even the denouement was rushed and really lame. It was promising, but just didn't develop or end well. Disappointing.

[Rosa M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars because it was going OK, just boring and kind of confusing, then literally everything came crashing down in the last 3 or 4 chapters and like......so much happens in one book and the ending was not what I wanted at all. (although I did kind of like how they pointed out that even Prince Charming characters make mistakes and aren't perfect.) I feel like this is something Joan Aiken does in her standalone novels, makes them drag on for 75% of the book, and in the last few chapters everything turns dark and intense, and ends on a weird note with lots of unanswered questions and a lukewarm resolution to the plot (at least the side characters are happy?) which is weird because her Wolves Chronicles, and some of her Jane Austen remakes are amazing!

[jaclyn kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike most readers of this book, I’ve never read a Jane Austen book. I was really enjoying this book and halfway through I was thinking it’d end up being a 4 or 5 star book.

I’ve never read a book that took a bigger nose dive at the end. The ending was beyond horrible, unrealistic, cheesy, and awful.

[Abby Rose]

Dnf.

I really love the idea, and Aiken has her typical beautiful writing, but something is just off about this one. Maybe I was hoping it would be more like Jane Fairfax than Eliza's Daughter.

Moreover, I'm fairly certain Fanny Price's father was named William, not Sam? Am I wrong? Does anyone else recall exactly what it was?

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up really liking Aiken's Harriet Ward, and even remembering bits of Mansfield Park around the characters.

[Bec · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tries too hard to write in "the style", but falls short.

[Keshia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book. I'm glad it ended how it did. Well-written. The inclusion of characters with disabilities or disfigurement was unique and interesting.

[Ylva · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Dropped/didn’t finish.)

[Timo · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,22

[D.w. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a brief time as we meet the 4th Ward sister, ones feels that Austen may indeed have mentioned in passing just such a heroine. Yet as the tome continues on, we find that Aiken has done us little service in adding color to the canon.

We eventually find characterizations that are not humorous to laugh at, as so much of Austen has, but characterizations that we do not admire, and further find that our heroine struggles in vain so much of the time that she has little for admiration as well. Finally when she shows spirit in her nature, instead of letting calamity continue to beset her, the resolution rushes together and those carefully laid down layers of depth and complexity are nullified.

So much could be better here. And Spoilers----



for this one-The Duke's Heir that acts anything but, wanting to even try to be an indentured servant just so he can relate to such burdens, a social experiment that Wilberforce would never have done and I submit that was a much better man than Aiken's Hero, who in the end, she guts with a quick twist and makes him much less of one than we are led to expect. Of course Austen never meant for her creatures to know those beyond the rank of baronet, for even the Earl of M----K remains off the page for but a mention in Pride and Prejudice.

Aiken worked to include to high a star for her Austenesque Heroine and had to crash her back to earth after an entire book of trying to give us hope for a romance. Then, at the end, in the very last paragraphs she decided that all is not linked to the Austen saga as this Ward sister has fallen even further than Fanny Price's mother and shall be erased from all knowledge, only in the last line are we informed, 'she died young.'

So this is a never again. That only a completist I feel would want to add to their knowledge. The character of Harriet we learn to like, and she finds her place in the world, but she takes perhaps her greatest disappointment too stoically for a Romance, and then the instances of a sub plot over fortunes are bestowed in an epilogue that then are proved pointless. Even Fanny Price has her happy ending. Her Aunt it appears under the penmanship of Ms Aiken, does not.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sequel, or prequel, to Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park,' in which the three sisters – Fanny's mother, Lady Bertram and Mrs. Norris – had another sister, a younger one, and proceeds to tell her story while filling in more of theirs, ultimately explaining why this fourth sister was never spoken of later.

The romantic aspects were both more and less satisfying – Austen is not about love and romance, but about finding a true meeting of the minds in a time when social strata and society's expectations kept so many people divided. While the main character does end up there, it's with someone we barely meet and don't really get to know in the course of the story.

It's a clever idea for an Austen follow-up, and the whole thing is well written in the style of the period. It resonates nicely with the tone of Mansfield Park, develops its own Gothic setting, and explores what happened with children in households of the time born with mental and developmental disabilities.

[Cathi · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better spin-off novels I've read. I actually enjoyed it in of itself. And since the main character is never mentioned in Mansfield Park I had no trouble with the story line fitting into that novel. I did think it a little sad that Henry got married without confirming Hattie's intentions to Sydney. Surely he should've known that she'd never marry Sydney! They could've been happy together. And his poor Indian wife - what will she do as a Duchess?!? But at least Hattie seems to be happy with her husband.
It was kind of wierd to get a lot of information from the sections of letters in the book, but I still enjoyed the book.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hatty Ward, one of the characters of Mansfield Park has her own novel here, in the same style. She is a far more intersting chracter than is usual, despite her "life of infamy." This is a character and society drama for the rest of us, who aren't always perfectly circumspect in our lives.

This book would have recieved four stars if it weren't for the last half a page. Unnecessary, not at all in the style of the rest of the book, and raised more questions than it answered.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a spin off book from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. It is about Hatty Ward the youngest sister of Maria Ward who married Thomas Bertram. Hatty is powerless against the unkindness of her family and is sent from one unhappy situation to another. Through it all she remains sweet and helps those around her. It is written in a style true to Austen's in tone and language. The ending was not what I expected, which made me like it all the better.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate when I finish a book and say, "What a dumb ending." I got fairly interested in the middle of this book and wanted to see what was going to happen, but was left disappointed by the end of the book. I also didn't care for the social commentary which seemed as if it was trying to moralize on more current social issues in the context of a novel set in the 18th century. It seemed a bit anachronistic.

[Richelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just having read Mansfield Park, this was an interesting side line. in a similar tradition. Like Fanny Price, Miss Ward (her aunt) was sent off to live with family though for different reasons. It illustrates how life can change drastically due to the decisions we make or that others make for us.

[Virginia Hume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written, good engaging story. Gothic quality/gratuitous cruelty is reminiscent of Wolves of Willoughby Chase. The book is about the youngest sister of Maria Bertram of Mansfield Park fame, but the relationship to the book is slight -- a few cameos.

Virginia
www.booksforthebeach.blogspot.com

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Jane Austen fans this book precludes the development of Mansfield Park and outlines the growing up of Mrs. Norris, Lady Betram and their sisters...the plot moves quickly but the authors style is similar to Jane Austen.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. I wasn't so sure about the ending. I was indifferent. My favorite character was Lady Ursula. She brought this element into the book that kept me wondering what horrible thing she would do or say next. Jane Austin feel but lighter diction.

[Tessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried reading this book two or three times before I finally forced my way through it. The characters were too forced but it wasn't terrible. I just wouldn't read it again and didn't exactly enjoy it while I was trying to digest it.