Mansfield Park (AmazonClassics Edition)

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells

Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

After her impoverished family sends her to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle at opulent Mansfield Park, Fanny Price finds her life forever changed by the aristocratic Bertrams and the city-dwelling Crawford siblings. But is it for the better? While the others seem content to abandon what’s right to further their own interests, Fanny decides to hold true to her heart - a choice that will make or break her future.

Mansfield Park is largely considered to be one of Jane Austen’s most ambitious novels, a darkly satirical glimpse into morality and social mobility within the nineteenth-century British class system.

AmazonClassics brings you timeless works from the masters of storytelling. Ideal for anyone who wants to read a great work for the first time or rediscover an old favorite, these new editions open the door to literature’s most unforgettable characters and beloved worlds.

Revised edition: Previously published as Mansfield Park, this edition of Mansfield Park (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

Public Domain (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Mansfield Park

Expected a better story, but, it was only okay. Did enjoy the intellect used in the story. Very intelligent lady. Narration was irritating.

Better than the movie!

Better than the movie! Read it! The subtlety and humor was a total joy. And surprisingly, at least to me, it is a page turner!

Love this book

Think that the book is absolutely amazing and that it is also read well. it is a book that I listen to often.

A Great Reader Opens Missed Depths of Great Novel

In Mansfield Park, Fanny Price, the heroine, enters the novel a child; by the end of the tale she is still only a very young woman. Yet, of the many times over a lifetime that I have read Mansfield Park, I never came to realize how much the youth of the heroine influences her perceptions of the situations. Mary Jane Wells captures this spirit of youth-- the naivete, the emotionality, and the sense of peering into an unfathomable adult world. A Mary Jane Wells narration reminds me of listening to a very good girlfriend retelling a great day of adventures and humor.

Not my favorite Jane Austen story, but still worth the listen!

I listened to this on the heels of Northanger Abbey, a book that wowed me in every way.
Mansfield Park, however, is as definitely not my favorite. The main heroin, Fanny Price, was frustrating at times in her complacency and lack of confidence, and most of the other characters didn’t seem to have many redeemable qualities other than the fact that they were written by Jane Austen. But all in all, the story managed to hold my attention. It was very bittersweet - there were times where I found my heart aching for our dear heroin, and others where I rejoiced with her equally. And though she was very diffident, Fanny Price’s story still deserves a listen (I admit I finished the book in under a week!).

WAY better than the movie

In times past, this was my least favorite of all Jane Austen’s novels. It is the longest of her works, and much of the dialogue seems tedious and purposeless, especially in the beginning. But in this time around, I was far more attentive and sympathetic to the heroine, painfully aware of the reality of Fanny Price’s situation. Her demure spirit, her lack of self esteem, and her homelessness tug at the reader’s heart. Mrs. Norris is by far the worst character Austen ever created, and it is a pleasure to the reader that the author delights in a kind of karma. On that note, Jane Austen is most verbal and open on morality and religion in this work than in any others.

I correspondingly rewatched the Francis O’Connor film adaptation on Amazon and was downright affronted by the portrayal of Fanny and, more distressingly, Sir Thomas. I understand that they wanted to include a pro-abolitionist statement, but I was dismayed at their choice of Sir Thomas to manifest such darkness when there is no trace of it in the book. He is actually my second favorite character in the entire story and the movie absolutely shreds his character on several fronts with little redemption. They do the original character a deep injustice. The film also portrays on screen immorality when none is directly viewed in the narrative, as well as heightening the sexual tension between female characters unnecessarily. It grossly exaggerates the events even to complete fabrication of others! The only redeeming quality of the movie that I found was its apparent inclusion of some of Austen’s early writings. But it was not enough to induce me to include the film in my collection of Austenian movies.

Don’t watch the movie. Wrestle through the book, and you will be glad for it.