Mansfield Park (Naxos Edition)

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

At the tender age of 10, Fanny Price is 'adopted' by her rich relations and is removed from the poverty of her home in Portsmouth to the opulence of Mansfield Park. The transplantation is not a happy one. Dependent, helpless, neglected and forgotten, Fanny struggles to come to terms with her new life until, tested almost to the limits of endurance, she assumes her rightful role....

Public Domain (P)1995 Naxos Audiobooks

So fun

Such a fun story, and I was pleased to have it last so long. Juliet Stevenson is a magnificent narrator, and this was one Jane Austen story that had me in suspense as to the ending! Thoroughly enjoyed.

Superbly narrated

This is a wonderfully done story which I have listened to at least five times and it only get better. Ms. Stevenson is to be commended!

What's not to love?

Would you listen to Mansfield Park again? Why?

Most definitely. I am a Janeite - love everything Austen wrote. This was the one novel I had never really given myself the time to read without interruption. I would always read a few chapters, put it aside for a few months, read a few more, put aside, etc. and never gave it the time it deserved.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mansfield Park?

Edmund's final realization of Mary's true character.

Which scene was your favorite?

Henry's visit to Fanny's parents' home in Plymouth.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Since I was already so aware of the book and storyline, no.

Any additional comments?

Juliet Stevenson is a wonderful narrator. This is the 3rd book I have listened to read by her and she is as good as they come. Wonderful job.

Great novel, excellently read.

Loved everything about it! You can never go wrong with Jane Austen and Juliet Stevenson.

Outstanding

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors, and Juliet Stevenson one of my favorite British actresses. Juliet’s talent for narration is perfectly suited for Jane Austen. She brings Austen’s characters to life with excellent comedic timing and pathos. I’m never bored with Austen as author and Stevenson as narrator/actress. Mansfield Park and its inhabitants are captivating in their familiarity; in Mansfield Park you’ll be reminded you of someone you know… a sweet one, the bossy one, the sparkling one, the serious one, the responsible one, the moral one, the placid one, the high-spirted one, the vain one, the over-confident one, the boring one, and the immoral one. They’re all there, in the novel, and in your life. Austen creates believable characters & Stevenson brings them beautifully to life!

Well read and Well edited

An exceptional narration and abridgement of a classic. But I bought it because of the narrator Juliette Stevenson.....superb.

Mansfield Park

Juliet Stevenson is a superb narrator and I would chose her as narrator over anyone else, particularly for Austen

Juliet Stevenson --Meryl Streep of this art form

Juliet Stevenson is the Meryl Streep of this new art form, acting-narration. Subtle, brilliant acting

Lovely!

I loved the feeling that the narrator created when reading this classic. It transports you to a different era.

Unexpected

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this recording to any Jane Austen fan. The narrator has an excellent feel for the language and is a delight to listen to. I wasn't excited about finally tackling this story given that generally speaking people seem not to like this book. Once I got past the theatre scene, however, my feelings about the story changed and I anticipate re-reading or re-listening at a later date to study the novel in more depth.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It was sad to Fanny to lose all the pleasures of spring. She had not known before what pleasures she had to lose in passing March and April in a town. She had not known before how much the beginnings and progress of vegetation had delighted her. What animation, both of body and mind, she had derived from watching the advance of that season which cannot, in spite of its capriciousness, be unlovely, and seeing its increasing beauties from the earliest flowers in the warmest divisions of her aunt’s garden, to the opening of leaves of her uncle’s plantations, and the glory of his woods. To be losing such pleasures was no trifle; to be losing them, because she was in the midst of closeness and noise, to have confinement, bad air, bad smells, substituted for liberty, freshness, fragrance, and verdure, was infinitely worse: but even these incitements to regret were feeble, compared with what arose from the conviction of being missed by her best friends, and the longing to be useful to those who were wanting her!

Any additional comments?

Mansfield Park is a very strange book, but I think it is also under-appreciated.