Henry Tilney's Diary [Hardcover]

Ever since I read Mr. Darcy's Diary in 2008, I have admired Amanda Grange's Austen Men Retellings. Having read and enjoyed all of Ms. Grange's previous retellings, I was most anxious to read Henry Tilney's Diary - after all, he is Jane Austen's most entertaining and charming hero! The two year period between Ms. Grange's last novel in this series (Colonel Brandon's Diary) and Henry Tilney's Diary was long, but the wait was definitely worth it! Henry Tilney's Diary is my new favorite in the series, usurping my previous favorite, Colonel Brandon's Diary.

What do I love so much about Henry Tilney's Diary and Colonel Brandon's Diary? Their back-stories. I love that both stories start prior to to Jane Austen's novel, making these diaries not only a retelling, but also a prequel. Captain Wentworth's Diary also provides an intriguing back-story. Henry Tilney's Diary opens in the year 1790 when Henry was at the young age of sixteen. Through these early diary entries readers are able to witness Henry's relationship with his mother, understand how Frederick became a cold-hearted deviant, and discover where Henry acquired his penchant for fine muslin and Gothic novels. I especially loved seeing Henry's close relationship with his sister!

Even though these novels are labeled as "diaries" and dates are recorded with each entry, they really are more of a retelling than an actual diary. While he does record his musings, reflections, and daily pursuits, Henry devotes a lot of his diary to recounting full conversations and quoting book excerpts. At around 270 pages and covering the spans of four months and one year, readers should not expect a very fleshed-out story with a lot of details. The novels by Pamela Aidan, Barbara Cornthwaite, and Susan Kaye provide more character development and detail, but this series is ideal if you are looking for a light and delightful retelling of your favorite Jane Austen novel.

I absolutely loved watching Henry fall in love with Catherine! I know some scholars have questioned whether Henry and Catherine are suitably matched (of course they are!), and evidently Amanda Grange is of the same mind. Ms. Grange beautifully illustrates how Henry, jaded and wary of women who flirt, employ artifice, and play games, becomes enamored with Catherine's open innocence and honesty. Although there may be differences in intellect and experience between them, Henry finds Catherine refreshingly adorable and endearing. (Henry Tilney is a lot like my husband, they both have a fondness for cuteness in their women!)

*Sigh* I just love Henry Tilney, and I adored Amanda Grange's portrayal of him! I sincerely hope to see more retellings from Amanda Grange in the future - perhaps she will be inspired to write about Edward Ferrars or Charles Bingley! One can only hope!

Austenesque Reviews

Albeit Jane Austen first sold Northanger Abbey to a publisher in 1803 (at first entitled Susan), it did not appear in print until 1817 when it was published after her death as a four volume set with her final novel Persuasion. In Northanger Abbey, Miss Morland is a daughter of a well-to-do clergyman, unabashed Gothic novel reader, and heroine-in-the-making, "Something must happen and will happen to throw a hero in her way." Northanger Abbey, Chapter 1. Upon leaving her family home in the quiet village of Fullerton for the excitement of the resort town of Bath, the good-hearted and suggestible Miss Morland is entangled in a plait of plausible falsehoods fabricated by more sophisticated people she encounters. Invited to Northanger Abbey, the country home of the Tilney family, Catherine lets her Gothic-infused imagination run wild during her visit there. She suspects something sinister -- true, but as in all Austen's major works, money is the real labyrinth. Cloaked in a black veil of parody, Jane Austen subtly mocks the Gothic novel with actual dangers, fears, anxieties and misfortunes that torment Catherine Morland, making it relevant to the age in which she lived.

Author Amanda Grange's latest offering Henry Tilney's Diary, mirrors Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, but from the male protagonist's point of view. When the young clergyman Henry Tilney is to be the hero, as in so many of the Gothic novels that he so fond of reading, the perverseness of his upbringing in a medieval home with a choleric, militaristic father, an aggrieved, sickly mother, his burlesque lothario of an older brother and a kindly, pretty sister cannot prevent him. Grange has scripted a rich back-story, starting with Henry's first entries in his diary at approximately age 15. We are privy to his most private thoughts regarding his parents, his mother's illness, his sister Eleanor and her secret amour, and of course, how his rake of a brother Frederick came to be. I found Henry so unlike other Austen heroes. He takes nothing seriously unless required, yet, is so self-assured that he has ready opinions on everything from marriage, politics and even fine muslin!

As in Grange's previous books in the Austen diaries series, the entries are dated which is helpful in keeping the timeline in focus. She masterfully writes our hero's thoughts and recollections with a strong, clear voice, seasoned with his wit, charm and satirical eye as Tilney attempts to influence others to rationality, even while on his search to find his own heroine. "`Papa says I am the cleverest girl he has ever met. Captain Dunston remarked upon it as well. But I think he is a very stupid fellow.' `He must be,' I said; a remark which she did not understand, but which made her smile, for she liked to think of my sharing her opinion of the captain.'" p. 97. Fortunately, this Miss Smith did not suit.

Negotiating through a world that is oftentimes mendacious, and a society that is characterized by guile and polite fabrication, when Henry does meet Miss Catherine Morland, a pretty, young lady of meager fortune, he can't help but be enchanted by her fresh charm and glorious honesty. And to discover her love of reading, it would seem he had found his match! Amused by her description of the south of France, "I could not help smiling when she went on, `It always puts me in the mind of the country that Emily and her father traveled through, in The Mysteries of Udolpho.' Eleanor and I looked at each other, delighted to have found another fellow admirer of Udolpho. Your heroine? Eleanor mouthed silently to me. I smiled, for Miss Morland certainly had all the hallmarks of a heroine." p.115.

When General Tilney, who has pre-determined his children will make wealthy marital conquests, takes an unlikely interest in Catherine, even inviting her to visit their home, Henry is pleasantly surprised. Later after an indulgent evening of laughter with just the three young people, "`This is how it will be when we are married,' I said to Eleanor, when Catherine had retired for the night. `I am sorry for it, but there it is. My wife will not secretly resent you, as you believed when we were children. She will not slowly poison you, or lock you in the attic.' Eleanor gave a sigh. `We must all bear our disappointments in life, dear brother, and it seems that having a good and charming sister, who loves me as much as I love her, is destined to be one of mine.'" p. 191. While Henry admits to himself his affection for Catherine, he also discovers her suggestible imagination has led her to suspect that his mother was incarcerated and murdered by his father... "Oh! I would not tell you" the rest "for the world! Are you not wild to know?" Northanger Abbey, Chapter VI.

Amanda Grange continues to build a dedicated fan base with her warm, witty and informative diaries of Jane Austen's male heroes (and even a villain) since her first Mr. Darcy's Diary in 2007 to Mr. Wickham's Dairy last April. I was too anxious to wait for the US release in December 2011 for Henry Tilney's Diary so I impatiently paid a small fortune last May for the shipping and hardback copy published through Robert Hale in the UK. I recall that from the time UPS delivered the book until I finished it sometime in the wee hours of the morn, I was thoroughly engaged. I believe my money and my time, well spent; surely one of her best diaries to date! Austen fans may declare Mr. Darcy as their favorite, I dare say, Mr. Tilney improves on acquaintance. Even if you are not as familiar with Northanger Abbey as other Austen works, you will still find the tendency of Henry Tilney's Diary to be altogether recommendable. A must for your reading list.

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars