Mansfield Park

487 pages

English language

Published Aug. 8, 2012 by Transatlantic Press.

ISBN:
978-1-908533-17-3
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OCLC Number:
822263681

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4 stars (6 reviews)

To relieve the pressure on her impoverished, overburdened family, shy young Fanny Price is sent to live with Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, wealthy relatives who reside at Mansfield Park. Of the Bertrams' own four children, only the younger son, Edmund, shows her any real kindness, and over time Fanny falls in love with her cousin. With Sir Thomas away on overseas business, Mansfield's social circle gains two superficially attractive new members: handsome, worldly Henry Crawford and his witty, vivacious sister Mary. Flirtations abound as Henry cavorts with the two Bertram daughters, one of whom is already engaged. Even more galling to Fanny, who stands aloof from all the shenanigans, is the fact that Edmund falls for Mary's dazzling charms. The waters are further muddied when Henry trains his roving eye on Fanny herself, and becomes a very earnest suitor ... Austen's recurring themes of manners and morality, rank and …

147 editions

Has pacing issues

3 stars

I will be honest and say that, had I chosen Mansfield Park as the first of my Jane Austen novels, I almost certainly would not then have challenged myself to also read the other five. It is a much, much slower paced story than Persuasion and did often feel a bit of a slog! Once I had adapted to this, I did enjoy the book, but spending several pages fairly early on in the company of characters bemoaning the lack of a gate key as though it were actually a disaster nearly had me starting to jump pages. I wondered if Austen was paid by word count?

Austen's talents for observation and the recounting of minutiae do make for fantastic character portrayals. From the indolent Lady Bertram to her waspish sister Mrs Norris, the snobby Misses Bertram and flirtatious Henry Crawford, everyone came gliding off the page as completely real …

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3 stars
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5 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars

Subjects

  • Social life and customs
  • Adoptees
  • Uncles
  • Cousins
  • Country homes
  • Children of the rich
  • Young women
  • Fiction

Places

  • England