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A review by fae_noir
The Matters at Mansfield: Or, The Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
THIS was what I've been waiting for this whole series. A roller coaster ride of twists and turns and our beloved Darcy and Elizabeth at the center of it. Anne de Burgh and Col. Fitzwilliam were a delight, and I haven't cancelled all plans because I just *had* to know what came next in a book in a long while! It wasn't perfect, but it's been my surprise favorite of the series.
I love the premise of Carrie Bebris' series- follow Darcy and Elizabeth through the milestones of their married life, and solve some mysteries along the way! Sadly, that premise has only been so-so in execution for the first couple of books. The supernatural themes of Pride and Prescience, and Suspense and Sensibility, made me feel like the author wasn't sure what series she wanted to write. It needed to be either "The Supernatural Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy", or a good old classic who-dunnit. Not "the supernatural *might* be real" (book 1), then "Oh the supernatural is very real" (book 2), then "there's some eerie things but they can be explained away" (book 3). I read the author's notes explaining where her approach to each of the stories came from, and I appreciate her inspiration (especially for Suspense and Sensibility), but even so, it's just discordant bordering on false advertising to say that this series is a Regency "Nick and Nora" (from Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man") and then make the first half of the series supernatural. I've read and enjoyed supernatural Sherlock Holmes pastiches (currently enjoying the HP Lovecraft crosssover series by James Lovegrove), but I went into those knowing that this was the genre I was signing on for.
North by Northanger was previously my favorite Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery, because I loved the way it incorporated Mr. Tilney into the story, and because I was okay with the suggestion of the supernatural, in keeping with Northanger Abbey being Jane Austen's answer to the Gothic fiction of her day. But The Matters at Mansfield absolutely eclipsed it! Nothing supernatural, just Henry Crawford creating mess after mess with his many lies, multiple dead bodies and missing evidence, and Anne de Burgh finally defying her mother's tyranny to be a delightful character in her own right.
I only have a few complaints, and here they are:
1. Lack of involvement from the characters of Mansfield Park. We barely see Edmund Bertram, and never Fanny Price. Mostly it's the location of Mansfield Park, Edmund's father Sir Thomas, and Mr. Crawford who give the story its tie-in with the Mansfield Park novel. There's also some scenes with the Rushworths, Edmund's disgraced sister Maria, and Mrs. Norris. I wish Edmund would have played a bigger role, and that we could have seen Fanny!
2. Meg's character fell flat for me when she's first introduced, and it only gets worse from there. The character Meg I think was designed to be a bit of a modern heroine mixed with some comedic relief, maybe? Doesn't matter, because she lost me with her treatment of Lady Catherine, and the sloppy portrayal of a lower class individual encountering the upper classes.
First off, Lady Catherine is an arrogant, egotistical, class-obsessed bully. Everyone knows that, and nobody approves of it, not even Austen's own characters. (We won't count Mr. Collins.) HOWEVER, one of the best scenes in Pride and Prejudice is Elizabeth standing up to Lady Catherine, because she doesn't have to act like an asshole to succeed. She states her truth, is polite and firm, never loses her temper even when stating that Lady Catherine has insulted her, and never resorts to insults and belittling. She simply says 'no' to Lady Catherine, and stands by it. Absolute powerhouse, because she's conducting herself with better manners and behavior than Lady Catherine despite being insulted for being gentry rather than aristocracy.
Meg, on the other hand, behaves just as badly as Lady Catherine does. If Lady Catherine is polite to her, she's polite back, but if Lady Catherine is angry, Meg responds by belittling Lady Catherine as being old and senile and near death. She starts talking about her to other characters like she's not there, and doesn't take her seriously. She stops treating Lady Catherine as a person, and instead acts like she's a rowdy animal or nonverbal toddler to calm. It's gaslighting, dehumanizing, and just as horrible to read as any of Lady Catherine's worst rants. And Meg outright states that she does it with any older person who's upset. So basically, while Lady Catherine abuses her rank to bully non-aristocrats into doing what she wants, Meg abuses her youth to shut down any older person who doesn't do what she wants. How the hell am I supposed to find that funny?! Or root for her?! Elizabeth is still the GOAT. Full stop.
It also bothers me because while Carrie Bebris seems to go out of her way to research the Regency period and reconstruct it as close to accurate as possible, Meg throws all that accuracy out the window. She's not only lower ranking than Lady Catherine, she's not from the gentry at all. Being the daughter of an Earl, Lady Catherine would be considered an aristocrat, or Upper class. (AKA the rank that includes royalty and is as high as you can go socially.) Meg seems to have come from either the Fifth or Sixth class (almost the opposite end of the social spectrum, as the Seventh is the lowest), and her disputed marriage to a merchant marine (no spoilers) would have elevated her only to the Third class, if I'm reading the social chart I looked up correctly. (Please forgive me if I'm wrong.) What I'm not wrong about, however, is that Meg is WAY too low on the social scale to act the way she does, spirited heroine or not. There's no way you can convince me that anyone would have tolerated her behavior towards Lady Catherine, no matter how abrasive Lady Catherine is to her peers. Meg's character is neither believable, nor enjoyable, and I have zero interest in her finding an HEA for herself.
3. I will never be okay with the fact that we don't find out the ultimate fate of Charleybane! The abused Thoroughbred mare who desperately needed a good home, is last seen when she gets loose and shows up at the inn. We never find out who ultimately takes her in after all is said and done, and I'm salty because of all the characters in this story, I was seriously invested in her getting a happily ever after.
I love the premise of Carrie Bebris' series- follow Darcy and Elizabeth through the milestones of their married life, and solve some mysteries along the way! Sadly, that premise has only been so-so in execution for the first couple of books. The supernatural themes of Pride and Prescience, and Suspense and Sensibility, made me feel like the author wasn't sure what series she wanted to write. It needed to be either "The Supernatural Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy", or a good old classic who-dunnit. Not "the supernatural *might* be real" (book 1), then "Oh the supernatural is very real" (book 2), then "there's some eerie things but they can be explained away" (book 3). I read the author's notes explaining where her approach to each of the stories came from, and I appreciate her inspiration (especially for Suspense and Sensibility), but even so, it's just discordant bordering on false advertising to say that this series is a Regency "Nick and Nora" (from Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man") and then make the first half of the series supernatural. I've read and enjoyed supernatural Sherlock Holmes pastiches (currently enjoying the HP Lovecraft crosssover series by James Lovegrove), but I went into those knowing that this was the genre I was signing on for.
North by Northanger was previously my favorite Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery, because I loved the way it incorporated Mr. Tilney into the story, and because I was okay with the suggestion of the supernatural, in keeping with Northanger Abbey being Jane Austen's answer to the Gothic fiction of her day. But The Matters at Mansfield absolutely eclipsed it! Nothing supernatural, just Henry Crawford creating mess after mess with his many lies, multiple dead bodies and missing evidence, and Anne de Burgh finally defying her mother's tyranny to be a delightful character in her own right.
I only have a few complaints, and here they are:
1. Lack of involvement from the characters of Mansfield Park. We barely see Edmund Bertram, and never Fanny Price. Mostly it's the location of Mansfield Park, Edmund's father Sir Thomas, and Mr. Crawford who give the story its tie-in with the Mansfield Park novel. There's also some scenes with the Rushworths, Edmund's disgraced sister Maria, and Mrs. Norris. I wish Edmund would have played a bigger role, and that we could have seen Fanny!
2. Meg's character fell flat for me when she's first introduced, and it only gets worse from there. The character Meg I think was designed to be a bit of a modern heroine mixed with some comedic relief, maybe? Doesn't matter, because she lost me with her treatment of Lady Catherine, and the sloppy portrayal of a lower class individual encountering the upper classes.
First off, Lady Catherine is an arrogant, egotistical, class-obsessed bully. Everyone knows that, and nobody approves of it, not even Austen's own characters. (We won't count Mr. Collins.) HOWEVER, one of the best scenes in Pride and Prejudice is Elizabeth standing up to Lady Catherine, because she doesn't have to act like an asshole to succeed. She states her truth, is polite and firm, never loses her temper even when stating that Lady Catherine has insulted her, and never resorts to insults and belittling. She simply says 'no' to Lady Catherine, and stands by it. Absolute powerhouse, because she's conducting herself with better manners and behavior than Lady Catherine despite being insulted for being gentry rather than aristocracy.
Meg, on the other hand, behaves just as badly as Lady Catherine does. If Lady Catherine is polite to her, she's polite back, but if Lady Catherine is angry, Meg responds by belittling Lady Catherine as being old and senile and near death. She starts talking about her to other characters like she's not there, and doesn't take her seriously. She stops treating Lady Catherine as a person, and instead acts like she's a rowdy animal or nonverbal toddler to calm. It's gaslighting, dehumanizing, and just as horrible to read as any of Lady Catherine's worst rants. And Meg outright states that she does it with any older person who's upset. So basically, while Lady Catherine abuses her rank to bully non-aristocrats into doing what she wants, Meg abuses her youth to shut down any older person who doesn't do what she wants. How the hell am I supposed to find that funny?! Or root for her?! Elizabeth is still the GOAT. Full stop.
It also bothers me because while Carrie Bebris seems to go out of her way to research the Regency period and reconstruct it as close to accurate as possible, Meg throws all that accuracy out the window. She's not only lower ranking than Lady Catherine, she's not from the gentry at all. Being the daughter of an Earl, Lady Catherine would be considered an aristocrat, or Upper class. (AKA the rank that includes royalty and is as high as you can go socially.) Meg seems to have come from either the Fifth or Sixth class (almost the opposite end of the social spectrum, as the Seventh is the lowest), and her disputed marriage to a merchant marine (no spoilers) would have elevated her only to the Third class, if I'm reading the social chart I looked up correctly. (Please forgive me if I'm wrong.) What I'm not wrong about, however, is that Meg is WAY too low on the social scale to act the way she does, spirited heroine or not. There's no way you can convince me that anyone would have tolerated her behavior towards Lady Catherine, no matter how abrasive Lady Catherine is to her peers. Meg's character is neither believable, nor enjoyable, and I have zero interest in her finding an HEA for herself.
3. I will never be okay with the fact that we don't find out the ultimate fate of Charleybane! The abused Thoroughbred mare who desperately needed a good home, is last seen when she gets loose and shows up at the inn. We never find out who ultimately takes her in after all is said and done, and I'm salty because of all the characters in this story, I was seriously invested in her getting a happily ever after.