Aiken, Joan. Mansfield Park Revisited.I really should have re-read Jane Austen's Mansfield Park before reading this sequel by Joan Aiken, but I did not and enjoyed it thoroughly anyway. Or maybe I enjoyed it because I didn't re-read the original -- because there are elements that seem slightly out of kilter concerning the Crawfords that would have probably bothered me a great deal had it not been so long since I read Austen's work.
What I liked best: the novel focused on Susan Price. She is a likable, spirited, and compassionate character.
It is a light-hearted look at what might have happened to the participants in Austen's book, except that Fannie and Edmund play no real role other than that of taking a trip to Antiqua which removes them from the story.
Aiken manages Austen's style quite nicely and evidently had fun doing so.
Thanks to Danielle of Sourcebooks for this one.
Fiction. 1985/2008. 201 pages.
I haven't been accepting these books when they are offered simply because I haven't read the originals. There certainly appears to be lots of these kinds of spin-offs in the market at the moment!
ReplyDeleteMarg - I'm a Jane Austen fan, but it really has been a long time since I've read many of the books. Jane Austen really has become quite the thing for books and film in the last few years.
ReplyDeleteI loved teaching Pride & Prejudice (students love that satire - they may not recognize or appreciate Swift's satire, but they get Jane's); it was also fun
noting all of the take-offs on Austen novels (Clueless was great for interesting kids in Emma). If I were still teaching, there would be so much more--given Jane Austen's current popularity.