Mansfield Park (audio)

Fanny Price, a poor relation of the rich Bertrams, is reluctantly adopted into the family to be brought up at Mansfield Park, where she is treated condescendingly. Only her cousin Edmund, a young clergyman, appreciates her fine qualities. Fanny soon falls in love with him, but Edmund is, unfortunately, drawn to the shallow and worldly Mary Crawford. Fanny’s quiet humility, steadfast loyalty, and natural goodness are matched against the wit and brilliance of her lovely rival. The tension is heightened when Henry Crawford, Mary’s equally sophisticated and flirtatious brother, takes an interest in Fanny. Jane Austen’s subtle, satiric novel skillfully uses her characters’ emotional relationships to explore the social and moral values by which they attempt to order their lives. “Lots of people (including Austen’s mother) find the heroine Fanny ‘insipid,’ but as a shy person I identify with her and love how she learns to speak up for herself.” “The technique of the novels is beyond praise, and has been praised. Her mastery of the art she chose, or that chose her, is complete: how she achieved it no one will ever know.” “Jane Austen paints some witty and perceptive studies of character.” “Listeners … will be rewarded with Austen’s brilliant commentary on the society of her day and by Johanna Ward’s solid reading … this is a lively and interesting choice for admirers of Jane Austen.” “Never did any novelist make more use of an impeccable sense of human values.” “There’s no one to touch Jane [Austen] when you’re in a tight place.”