Mansfield Park

Description

Jane Austen’s third novel was published in 1814 and this is the Folio Society reissue from 1959. The book was published when the author was 39, only three years before Austen’s death, and the shadow of her illness hung over its creation. Nevertheless, Mansfield Park is considered one of Austen’s most controversial works, some critics in the 1970s accusing it of having “an inane heroine, a pompous hero, a ponderous plot and viperish satire”. More recent assessments have been much kinder, lauding Mansfield Park as a novel that ultimately challenges formal conservative values in favour of compassion and a deeper morality, and posing an ongoing challenge to subsequent generations. In other words, probably best to read it and make up your own mind. This edition comes in the original cardboard sleeve and is in very good condition.