This was my second Jane Austen novel and it was a little slow at times, but still full of satire and wit. Mansfield Park is the story of poor Fanny Price who grows up in the shadow of her rich cousins. In true Austen form, the plot - and the love triangle - twists around several times. I got a little bit tired of Fanny being overly passive and shy, but overall the novel was worth reading.
Summary from Amazon:
In Mansfield Park, Austen gives us Fanny Price, a poor young woman who has grown up in her wealthy relatives' household without ever being accepted as an equal. The only one who has truly been kind to Fanny is Edmund Bertram, the younger of the family's two sons. Into this Cinderella existence comes Henry Crawford and his sister, Mary, who are visiting relatives in the neighborhood. Soon Mansfield Park is given over to all kinds of gaiety, including a daring interlude spent dabbling in theatricals. Young Edmund is smitten with Mary, and Henry Crawford woos Fanny. Yet these two charming, gifted, and attractive siblings gradually reveal themselves to be lacking in one essential Austenian quality: principle. Without good principles to temper passion, the results can be disastrous, and indeed, Mansfield Park is rife with adultery, betrayal, social ruin, and ruptured friendships. But this is a comedy, after all, so there is also a requisite happy ending and plenty of Austen's patented gentle satire along the way.
Read: November 2011 (on my iPad)
