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eloiseknight 's review for:
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen
I really loved this novel, and I thought it was totally brilliant. Unlike Pride and Prejudice , I knew virtually nothing about the plot of Mansfield Park as I read it. At the beginning I was very overwhelmed by the sheer amount of characters that are introduced, but this novel progresses so well and by the time I got to Part II, I was completely hooked. Jane Austen's full skill is on display here. All of these characters are masterfully written, and the Crawford siblings specifically are unbelievably compelling. The pacing of this novel is also extremely well-done, especially in Part III when the story slows down and information is released only through letters. Definitely also a step up from P&P in its thematic interests; the focus on virtue and ruin is super interesting, and of course there's been a ton of post-colonial scholarship on the novel's interest in the slave-trade. There are definitely some disconcerting elements, but I think that reading them in Austen's social context makes them understandable, even if it doesn't necessarily ameliorate them.