Book 1,075: Manslaughter Park (Jane Austen Murder Mystery #3) – Tirzah Price

If there was one adaptation of Jane Austen’s works I’ve been most hesitant to read, it’s one of Mansfield Park. I’ve long felt that Fanny Price is the most misunderstood heroine of Austen’s and what she did with nature versus nurture I found to be fascinating. It was also incredibly revealing in a way the others that are more popular and more frequently adapted are, of both the time it was written and the following two centuries.

If I had to wager a guess I would say Mansfield Park is the least often adapted of all six novels. Price’s adaptation was interesting—and I was super excited for it as it was a queer adaptation. It’s been a while since I finished it, but I believe she acknowledged in the afterwards that it was her least read novel of Austen’s oeuvre. And I appreciated this, however it really showed in the adaptation. At first I felt that it missed the mark because the adaptation was so far from the original, but maybe she honed in on it so much on the nature/nurture piece so much that I missed it.

Let’s start with what I loved: the queer representation. Overall, I felt it was well done and slipped in seamlessly. There was some subterfuge, but also some allowance by family and safe spaces created and it just worked even with this being set in the slightly modified Regency era. These were some of my favorite moments of queer joy/love:

But her cousin and Mr. Yates were laughing and exchanging knowing looks. It was enough that Fanny almost wanted to reveal that she did indeed know a secret of Tom’s—that she had observed him sneaking out of Mr. Yates’s room in the early hours of the morning, before the maids were even awake. But there was some unnamed instinct that told her this secret wasn’t wrong like the others . . . just private. (Loc.208)

She couldn’t help but stare into the darkness, holding Mary’s hand, and wonder how she could bottle up this feeling of small, quiet bravery to hold on to until tomorrow. (Loc. 3,679)

What you’re saying, then, is that we can be two scandalous ladies together? (Loc. 4,231)

I also appreciated that Price explicitly tied the three novels together. It’s a little tenuous, but so far it’s worked well enough and I’ve enjoyed the appearances of Lizzie and Darcy and references to Marianne and Elinor.

As for the plot of the novel, I wasn’t sold at first and I’m still not 100% on board with it. Rather than a quiet isolated mansion in the countryside where the characters get so bored they put on a scandalous play that results in actual scandal, this time it’s the same somewhat distant from the city mansion but instead of there being a play, the whole family is intricately connected to an art emporium/dealership and Mr. Bertrand is murdered to kick things off.

WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

Price’s shifting the novel this far from the original works in its favor as the novel could stand on its own, but her choice to change some major things bothered me. And this is with her leaning into the nature/nurture piece that I found so fascinating in the novel. Price has Fanny Price play a very similar role to the original, she’s soft spoken, obedient, and meek, for the most part, but she changes things up for Edmund. This quote pretty much sums up Fanny’s existence in the original novel and for most of this novel

It didn’t immediately occur to her to be upset that they had nearly run her over with their rig, because it was hard to feel indignant when one’s short and uneventful life has just flashed before one’s eyes. (Loc. 1,370)

Rather than him being a sibling to the Bertrams, he’s another cousin, who has his own inheritance and is also raised with Fanny after his parents die. Part of the drama is around that inheritance. Whereas Fanny is raised to be lesser-than and always subservient, Edmund, because of his inheritance, is raised similarly to the other spoiled siblings and takes it to the extreme throughout the story. Like legit—when he finds out his uncle has been borrowing from his inheritance, he begins to blackmail his uncle and ultimately kills his uncle bringing the entire novel about. He also attempts to have Fanny kidnapped and forced into marriage at one point. Edmund isn’t a great hero in the original novels, but I don’t think he’s as demonic as this made him out to be. This is the second one, where I wonder if Price has an axe to grind, because I found myself defending Collins in Pride and Premeditation!

. . . it’s all right to borrow bravery from others while looking for your own. (Loc. 4,315)

My favorite part after the queer joy though, was giving Fanny a happily-ever-after that had little-to-nothing to do with the Bertram’s and allowed her to pursue her own artistic and romantic passions in a supportive and accepting environment. It made the rest of the book more palatable.

Recommendation: As a stand alone novel, outside of Austen, absolutely you should read it. I enjoyed the amplification of what could’ve happened to Fanny in opposition to what did happen in contrast to other characters, but I think she might’ve taken the other major changes too far for it to be considered an adaptation. This is another one of those that is more “inspired by” rather than “adapted from” which isn’t a bad thing. I struggle because this parallel series has already stretched things a little far from the source material and I go back to my thoughts on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, where one tried to stay too close to the source and failed and one moved far enough away from the source and did a pretty good job. I’m not sure if Price will complete the series, especially as she’s adapted one that most series end up abandoning for book three, but here’s hoping, because I will read them.

Opening Line: “‘FANNY!’ Fanny Price’s paintbrush slipped at the sound of her own name, leaving a streak of brown paint across the canvas.”

Closing Line: “They walked arm in arm back to the orchestra, where the first fireworks exploded above, and into a future brighter than the night shining around them.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Manslaughter Park
“‘Everyone always has use for money,’ Fanny admonished. ‘Especially money that’s given to them rather than earned.'” (Loc. 179)

“‘Mr. Collins is no longer employed by Longbourn and Sons,’ the young lady replied, her crisp tone offering no room for questions. ‘I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and I have been overseeing your father’s account for the past nine months.'” (Loc. 550)

“‘We could always provide a referral to Norland and Company,’ Miss Lucas said.
‘True,’ Miss Bennet agreed. ‘They’re an investigation firm we’ve worked with in the past.’
‘Are they run by ladies as well?’ Fanny asked, mostly in jest.
‘Yes, actually.'” (Loc. 821)

“Art had nothing to do with society or who had a more expensive painting on their drawing room wall. Art was about emotion, feeling, capturing specific moments in time. It was about conveying what could not be said or described, delighting the senses.” (Loc. 1,479)

“‘You create, therefore you are an artist, are you not?’ Miss Crawford asked. ‘Or do you think that because your work hasn’t sold, it is not true art?'” (Loc. 1,655)

“‘Don’t worry, you’d be surprised at how charming Darcy can be when it matters.’
‘Dour aunts are a specialty of mine,’ Mr. Darcy deadpanned.” (Loc. 2,257)

“Fanny never regretted pushing Mary away more than she did in that moment. The kiss had been impulsive, reckless even. Never had Fanny heard of a lady kissing another lady the way she wanted to kiss a gentleman. Ladies weren’t supposed to want to kiss anyone according to society’s rules.” (Loc. 3,586)

“So this was what it had come to, then. The tired old insanity excuse, an age-old solution for any meddlesome woman.” (Loc. 4,086)

“However, just as history is full of many instances of queer suffering, it’s also full of queer joy and resilience. For this book, I chose to focus on that joy and resilience and imagine that Mary and Fanny could create a happily ever after they both deserve.” (Author’s Note)