Mansfield Park

Fanny Price, a penniless young woman, is left to live at Mansfield Park, the home of her uncle Sir Thomas Bertram in Northampton County, by her unprincipled and destitute family. Sir Thomas, being a benevolent and kind-hearted relative, makes the choice of raising this timid girl among his own famil... y on his estate. She meets Edmund Bertram, the youngest son of Sir Thomas, in this cozy and obliging community. Also she gets to know Henry Crawford and his sister Mary. Henry becomes infatuated with Fanny while Mary enchants Edmund. Although still and truthful, Fanny maintains an unbounded reserve of moral determination. Henry and Mary are gifted and attractive but lack basic decorum and the results can be devastating without reliable principles to calm passion. Although Mansfield Park is populated by the wealthy and established, there are prevailing consequences of adultery and betrayal and broken friendships. Fanny remains certain of the difference between right and wrong, surrounded by seductive distractions, and Edmund is taken with her moral strength. In Austen's works, an admonition of those who are more privileged than the commoners is unrefuted, and although this is still written as a comedy, it is a dark one with its necessary happy ending accompanied by her merciful satire. Please note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images which can be difficult to decipher at times. For easy navigation the Microsoft eBook has a page of contents linked to the chapter headings. The Adobe eBook has chapter heading bookmarks, and can be printed up to two full copies per year. Both versions are searchable by text.