The Youngest Miss Ward (A Jane Austen Entertainment) [Import] [Paperback]

Joan Aiken (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: Orion mass market paperback; New Ed edition (June 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575402008
• ISBN-13: 978-0575402003
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,141,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Aiken (1924-2004) was the daughter of Pulitzer prize winning poet Conrad Aiken and started writing herself from the age of five. During her lifetime she published over one hundred books for children and adults, including the acclaimed Wolves of Willoughby Chase series. In the UK she received an MBE from the Queen for her services to Children's Literature.

This year sees the publication of a brand NEW story collection - The Monkey's Wedding - with previously unpublished material that shows Aiken on top form. This collection of funny, spooky, unexpected but classic Aiken stories has received wonderful reviews and will delight her readers. See below for details.

Her work continues to be adapted for film and television; she is established as a consummate storyteller,and recognized as one of the best loved authors of the twentieth century.

"The Wonderful World of Joan Aiken" is at www.joanaiken.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't quite hit the mark of Aiken's previous triumphs, June 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Youngest Miss Ward (Hardcover)

I started out thinking I was in for yet another jewel along the lines of "Jane Fairfax" and "Mansfield Revisited." Aiken certainly starts off in that vein, but halfway thru, the plot turns ridiculous. Hatty became so 'Dickens-like' in her cheerful suffering that I wanted to gag, and the antagonists were also crosses between those found in Bronte and Dickens and not Austen-like at all. Aiken seemed to abandon wit and good humor for pathos and melo-drama. I hope she will not continue on this vein in her future Austen ventures. Aiken is VERY gifted and readable, so it is easy to forgive her for "The Youngest Miss Ward."

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and enjoyable up to a point, May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Youngest Miss Ward (Hardcover)

I found this latest book of Joan Aiken's to be a very enjoyable one, with many references to characters and events in Mansfield Park, and an excellent portrayal of the early nineteenth century. For the entire first half or more I was quite caught up in the heroine's life and that of the whole cast of unusual characters, many of which seem to be right out of an Austin novel. It was with some chagrin when I realized, toward the end, that Hattie (the youngest Miss Ward of the title), had slipped into the "Goody Goody" mode, and was becoming somewhat insipid. I mean, really, she goes around solving everyone's problems, and taking all kinds of abuse with never a frown, but is always cheerful and helpful to a fault. The other characters have also fallen into rather neat groups of villians and good guys. However, this would not really have bother me, had the ending not been as it was. I don't wish to give anything away, so I won't comment on the obvious flaws and lack of continuity in many of the storylines and characters. However, some may not be as troubled by the ending or the character of the heroine , and, if interested in this period of history, will certainly enjoy reading The Youngest Miss Ward.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A readable if somewhat melodramatic and mediocre historical novel, July 21, 2005

By 

Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Youngest Miss Ward (Hardcover)

This purports to chronicle the hard-times of Harriet Ward, the fourth Ward sister; intimidated by Mrs. Norris, the narrator of Mansfield Park left her out. The woes of Fanny Price pale in comparison.

I would ignore the attempted connection to Jane Austen, which I view simply as a marketing ploy. The book has nothing like her wit and has little to do with Mansfield Park, except for background mentions of the doings of the older Ward sisters.

This is a historical novel, not a Regency romance, indeed there is very little romance. It belongs to the school of historical woe, finding the past harsh and cruel rather than glamorous. For my taste, it it carried rather to the point of melodrama, more like Dickens perhaps than Austen. It is possible that all of these things could have happened to one young girl in the space of about 8 years. Indeed, there are a number of real people whose seemingly undeserved and unrelenting bad luck make one question the existence of divine justice, but it doesn't necessarily make for an effective novel. Aiken does bring in some interesting complexity as the characters ponder the wisdom and ultimate consequences of unrelentingly idealistic behavior.

Oddly enough, although this book apparently starts in the final months of the American Revolution, none of the characters, not even those emigrating to Pennsylvania and Maryland, seem to notice this event. They aren't going to English colonies, they are going to the newly formed United States of America!

Not a bad novel, but not something to inspire me to read more Jane Aiken either.