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Mansfield Park book cover

Warning: This review may include opinions about your favorite (or least favorite) Victorian rom-com author. Yep! I’m reviewing a Jane Austen book. I chose Mansfield Park (1814) because I wanted to read something by Jane Austen, but I already knew Pride and Prejudice well enough to quote, and that just wouldn’t do. Mansfield Park was much less familiar to me.

Mansfield Park tells the story of Fanny Price, a fortunate little girl who is rescued from her very poor family by her aunt, Lady Bertram. But before you start feeling too happy for Fanny, just remember that Fanny’s aunt took her in out of pity and self-righteousness — not out of love. Despite Fanny’s difficult upbringing, however, she still manages to find good old-fashioned, Jane-Austen-style love.

I give this book four out of five stars. Opinions on this book have been a bit controversial in the past. In the 1970s, it got some harsh reviews, and was considered Jane Austen’s worst book by some reviewers.

My opinion of it, I believe, is more a matter of personal disliking for romance novels. I would add, however, that the ending left me a little dissatisfied. Still I’m inclined to rate the book well because it does have the Jane Austen wit that we all love, and the underlying message is one of moral courage and strength.

I usually review children’s and young adult literature, but this one is probably not one of those. I would put the age range at 16+, but this is really more of an adult book. The reader has to know some things about 19th-century culture to catch many of Austen’s subtleties in societal and relationship drama.

More Books Like This

Other Jane Austen novels you might like include Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Emma (1815).

If you like Victorian writers but are a bit less taken with romantic comedies, you might like A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens or Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë.

by Abbie Call


Read next: The Little Prince Book Review.

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