Happy Friday, everyone! I’m so excited to welcome a new author to Austenesque Reviews today! Lucy Knight has just published a Mansfield Park sequel with Meryton Press this month titled, Maria Bertram’s Daughter. I’m thrilled about this. I love P&P, but it is always great to see some of Jane Austen’s other characters receive some attention. Lucy is here to share a conversation she had with Mary Crawford! We hope you enjoy!
Thank you so much, Meredith, for hosting me on my blog tour! I hope you enjoy the attached interview with Mary Crawford (as was). I had so much fun writing it. The main characters from Mansfield Park all appear eventually in my novel (with the exceptions of Julia Bertram and William Price) and I had a great deal of fun imagining how they would appear sixteen years later. Mary Crawford has apparently made a good marriage and she should, perhaps, be satisfied with that? I fear not… I have a lot of sympathy for Jane Austen’s Mary Crawford, but I am afraid I think that sixteen years of bitterness might not have done much to improve her character.
Interview with Lady Drumroth (formerly Miss Mary Crawford)
LK: Before we start, I have to tell you that I find you a little intimidating.
LD: That is well – I prefer to have the upper hand in any situation.
LK: Yes, well… you’re not very nice, are you?
LD: I do not agree. I am the soul of generosity, I know my duty, I am devotedly loyal to those whom I love – just ask my brother Henry – I do good works among my husband’s tenantry…
LK: But you hardly ever visit your husband’s castle in Scotland?
LD: Hardly ever, no, if I can avoid it. Have you been to Scotland? It rains, constantly. But when I do go, on those occasions, I do good works.
LK: Hmmm. You spend most of your time in London?
LD: Yes. It is the only civilised spot in England.
LK: Yet at one time you thought of burying yourself in a parsonage with Mr Edmund Bertram?
LD: I was a girl in love. You ask very impertinent questions.
LK: Do you still play the harp?
LD: Of course not. That was only ever a device to show my beautiful arms and bosom as I sat in the window, lit to my best advantage.
LK: As I suspected. Do you think that you represent the old order in England – the last hurrah of the Georgian rakettes?
LD: I have absolutely no idea what that word is. I imagine you invented it. But if I divine the meaning
behind your question, you ask if times are changing and society is becoming more prim and buttoned up? I believe they are. Not for men: they will continue to behave as they always have. But for women, yes, our horizons narrow with every day that passes. A woman must exercise such power as she has while she still retains it.
LK: At the risk of being even more impertinent, I have often thought that you would have made a splendid courtesan. One of those rich, important ones who had intellectual salons.
LD: [sighs] I cannot disagree with you.
This older and more mature version of Mary Crawford does not surprise me one bit! I’m curious to spend more time with her and see more of what her life looks like know. Is her marriage a love match? Does she still have a questionable moral center? Is she still on friendly terms with the Bertrams?
Thank you so much for sharing, Lucy. I wish you all the best with your release of Maria Bertram’s Daughter! 🤗
~ Book Description ~
She could be mistress of Mansfield Park. But is that what she wants?
An unwanted child—conceived in circumstances her mother would rather forget—Dorothea Henrietta Rose grows up solitary and neglected with her dissatisfied mother and unpleasant great-aunt Norris. Raised without the knowledge that her mother is her mother or that their occasional visitor, Sir Thomas Bertram, is her grandfather, she is forbidden ever to set foot in Mansfield Park.
Dorothea hopes for a happier life when sent away to school, but her difficulties are not over. She is obliged to make her way in the world as a governess and, thus, encounters human frailty, hypocrisy, good, and evil in her travels throughout England.
She meets the Crawfords—Henry and Mary (now Lady Drumroth)—and inevitably does the one thing she must not do: unwillingly makes herself known to the inhabitants of Mansfield Park.
~ Connect with Lucy ~
~ About Lucy ~
L
ucy Knight grew up in Whitby, North Yorkshire, now a tourist town but until recently a small and historic port which was known for shipbuilding, fishing (including whaling) and having an important Abbey. During her life she has moved around a great deal both in England and on the continent of Europe; she now lives in a tiny hamlet lost in the French countryside with two rescue dogs, two rescue chickens, an unknown number of bees and eight sheep.
Lucy has two children and three grandchildren, all of whom live in England.
Lucy has only recently begun to write historical fiction but she enjoys it so much she can’t stop! Her background is in comedy and drama, so there will always be some jokes and plenty of dialogue.
When she is not writing, Lucy teaches English and French, and she love to take long walks with her dogs during which she revels in the birds, butterflies, trees and flowers which are so abundant in her part of France.
~~~
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
Meryton Press is generously giving away 6️⃣ ebook copies of Maria Bertram’s Daughter in conjunction with Lucy’s visit today!
To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment and fill out the Rafflecopter widget.
- This giveaway is open worldwide. Thank you, Meryton Press!
- This giveaway ends April 20th!
Thank you to Janet Taylor, Meryton Press, and Lucy Knight for making this visit possible!
Maria Bertram’s Daughter Blog Tour Schedule
April 11 My Jane Austen Book Club
April 12 So little time…
April 13 Babblings of a Bookworm
April 14 From Pemberley to Milton
April 15 Austenesque Reviews
April 16 The Literary Assistant
April 18 My Vices and Weaknesses
I’m consistently amazed at the creativity people show! When I think about the future of Mansfield Park, this never occurred to me!
Hello Annie, thank you for your lovely comment! The idea occurred to me because Jane Austen doesn’t say either way, but there are plenty of illegitimate children in the novels and their mothers are always sent away in disgrace. Their fathers, on the other hand, are free to carry on as usual..
Always though Mary Crawford was one of the more interesting characters of the book even if she was not as morally upright as Fanny
I agree! I’m fascinated by the Crawfords. They seem very modern compared to the other characters.
You made me grin and lift my eyebrows at some of those retorts, Lucy! What a great interview! Thanks! Thanks also to Meredith for hosting.
Thanks Suzan! I really enjoyed writing that piece, so I’m glad it came across. I can’t say much more about MC without spoilers…
What an amusing interview, Lucy! I loved it! 🙂
Thank you Kelly! I was chanelling my inner Mary Crawford and had a lot of fun with her ( in the book, too)
Enjoyed the interview. So glad MP is getting some attention.
Thank you – it’s a fabulous book, isn’t it? So layered and nuanced.
That was a fun interview & laughed at the part about courtesan because I can totally see her in that role.
Exactly – she would have loved it, the naughty baggage. I’m thinking I should write a JA spinoff where a character does exactly that… maybe even MC herself !
Looks like a fun read. Congrats and much success on your book!
Thank you, Julie! I had fun writing it, so I hope it’s as much fun to read!
Good interview and lovely cover. Looks interesting
Thank you! I really appreciate all the interest!
A very intriguing premise. One has to wonder just who Dorothea’s father is — Rushworth? Henry Crawford himself? Perhaps some other fool who fell for Maria’s insipid charms? I can’t wait to find out how all my favorite people from Mansfield Park are doing nearly 20 years later.
That’s so lovely to read, Christina! Nearly all the major characters return. Some are older and wiser. Some are just older… thank you for your curiosity!
This does sound interesting. Thanks for a chance to win. Good luck with the release.
Thank you, and good luck to you in the draw (and everyone else too)!
Her biting wit is still there, for better or worse! I really loved that interview and how she is still wishing she was somewhere else. I do not think she likes to really settle down but must always chase something involving and interesting.
Thank you so much! I loved writing this interview. I think if I ever do another blog tour (here’s hoping) I’ll do nothing but character interviews. It’s a little tricky to do without spoilers but it’s very exhilarating.
I love the characters in Mansfield Park and would like to see what happens with some of them!
Great interview! I don’t recall much about MP but I do remember that Mary Crawford was a most unpleasant person (but then I found that to be true of many of the characters). This book seems to still have those characters, Aunt Norris being one! But Dorothea sounds like a much better person. I have this book but haven’t read it yet.
I’m so late to the game here. I loved the ‘interview.’ I think you nailed her character, Lucy. Now, I can’t say that MP is my fave (actually least,) but I’ve read some very good continuations. This one sounds unlike anything I’ve read so far, very creative. The story built around Maria’s daughter, and she not knowing her mother? Wow. Very eager to read this. Best of luck, Lucy.
And as always Meredith, thank you so much for bringing us these author visits.
Enjoyed this interview. Wow Lady Drumroth, such a character. Love to know more of her and her statements in the story. Thank you for this post and the giveaway.