4 stars; I liked it, it was good
Second last book in my Jane Austen binge! This is one of her books that I wouldn’t have known existed if not for the boxed set I acquired.
Read: Nov 11 – Nov 17, 2024
Genre: Classic, Romance
Audience: General
Book contains: classism, sexism, period-typical behaviours
Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca
Sent to live with her wealthier cousins from a young age, Fanny Price grew up with certain expectations (or lack of) for herself. Living in Mansfield Park, she’s introduced to higher society, but also the drama that comes along with it.
I’ve been really into Austen’s novels lately, and this is one of her lesser-known ones. I wasn’t sure at first who the main character was supposed to be, but Fanny introduced herself early enough to follow and get to know her. I especially loved how you can see just how poorly her family treats her and yet she reacts like it’s only natural—the dichotomy was wild!
Told in the style of all her other novels, Austen writes in third person with a focus on her main character: in this case, Fanny Price. The dialogue is often long and winding, but well done, and the narration describes the countryside and estates in beautiful detail.
I read along to this book while listening to an audiobook on Spotify, which helpfully separates each of the chapters rather than having them all one after the other. The narrator, PJ Roscoe, has a soothing voice that I enjoyed. (I tried a different one at first, but ran into the problem that it was too long and marked itself as “played” when I wasn’t done yet.)
Fanny Price comes from a lower income family, and is sent to live with her wealthier aunt, uncle, and cousins from a young age, thus resulting in her growing up “knowing her place”. This sense of humility makes her a wonderful and relatable main character and shows the unfairness of the world as her family treats her as lesser while she reacts like it’s only the natural thing to do. I don’t know what I’d do if she turned out as spoiled as her aunt Norris or either of her female cousins, who don’t have the best ending in this book.
From her first meeting with her cousin Edmund, Fanny is ensnared, but he only sees her in a sisterly light for most of the book, which brings Fanny much misery. Still, I love that she’s still able to become friends with the lady whom Edmund has fallen in love with, and she sticks to her morals despite the behaviours of those around her.
I’m still a fan of Austen’s writing style. It’s elegant and descriptive, and her dialogue sings to me—I love it! The characters are all so diverse; even though the cast is so large and sometimes I forget who is whom, the differences in personalities and behaviours is natural and fluid.
The pace was quite good. Longer in terms of plot, as Victorian novels typically are. There is some lollygagging as to who ends up with whom, but every part of it was enjoyable, and there was always forward momentum.
While not as beloved as Pride and Prejudice or even Emma, I highly recommend reading this book if you’re a fan of Austen’s other works.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
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