Bird of Paradise (Mansfield Park story)

Bird of Paradise is a Mansfield Park story by Jane Greensmith, written in 2001. It is a character study of Fanny Price which remains closer to canon than most fanfiction for this novel, retaining the canonical Fanny/Edmund pairing.
The story opens with Fanny's marriage to Edmund Bertram. It initially focuses on Fanny's shyness, jealousy, lack of assertiveness & physical weakness, characteristics that most fanfiction authors forget or try to explain away. Connecting Mansfield Park with Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca by naming the Bertrams' housekeeper "Mrs Danvers" and echoing elements of the du Maurier novel, the story draws parallels both between Fanny & the unnamed mouse-like narrator of Rebecca, and between Edmund's former lover Mary Crawford & Maxim de Winter's beautiful but dissolute first wife. It then diverges from du Maurier's plot by introducing another original character, a female neighbour who befriends Fanny; this device draws out Fanny's more confident & passionate nature, and gives the story a happy ending.
"Bird of Paradise" opposes images of roses & the titular tropical flower to express different views of Fanny's character. This could be read as a comment on the fandom's "Fanny Wars" over her character.
The story is archived at the author's personal site and at Bits of Ivory & the Derbyshire Writers' Guild. It is also available in her self-published print anthology Intimations of Austen. The story is not rated by the author; most reviewers rate it PG-13. It contains no explicit material. The author's summary at BoI is We were married today, Edmund and I. At DWG, it is Fanny Bertram has a difficult time adjusting to her new roles as wife and mistress of the parsonage. Fortunately, a neighbor helps her to find her way An author's note explains the title:
==Author's Conception==
Jane describes the story and her inspiration to write it:
==Reception==
"Bird of Paradise" was generally well received, both as fanfiction and in the pro anthology format. Within online fandom reviewers tend to focus on Fanny's characterisation, while reviewers of the print anthology often concentrate more on the crossover elements. Reviewers particularly praise Fanny's non-fanonical but sympathetic characterisation, the realistic portrait of her marriage and the slow emergence of her more assertive side. Some reviewers also draw attention to the distinctive prose style, which is modern rather than Austen pastiche without being too jarring.
Critique tends to focus on the effect of the Rebecca fusion on the characters from Mansfield Park. For example, one reviewer found the premise of Fanny's incompetence at housekeeping unbelievable in the light of her role at Mansfield;alexaadams: Intimations of Austen by Jane Greensmith (accessed 30 January 2014) another felt that the characterisation of Edmund was stretched to breaking by the demands of the fusion."Okay, nothing special, May 9, 2009" in Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Intimations of Austen (accessed 30 January 2014)
==Recs & Reviews==
The story was recommended at Crack Van, Epic Recs and elsewhere. It was also widely reviewed in Austen blogs as part of the Intimations of Austen collection.
===In Intimations of Austen===
==References==
Category:Mansfield Park
Category:Het Fanfiction
Category:2001 Fanfiction‎