MANSFIELD PARK by Jane Austen

I like Jane Austen, but, honestly, the flowery nineteenth-century language causes me to have to reread too many passages.  There are those passages, however, that are worth reading multiple times.  Early in the book, Mary Crawford says, “Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, because there is no hope of a cure.”  What??!  I think the speaker is serious, but the author is not.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell.  The protagonist of this novel is Fanny Price, who comes to live with her well-to-do aunt and uncle, Lord Bertram, at Mansfield Park when Fanny’s poor mother bears her ninth child.  Fanny becomes sort of the Cinderella of this story, although her new family is not particularly wicked.  Her most trusted friend and ally is her cousin Edmund, who is destined for the clergy.  By the time Fanny becomes a teenager, all of the young characters are pairing off, although they may change partners from time to time, especially when they decide to put on a play while Lord Bertram is out of the country.  The assignment of roles becomes sticky and certainly telling with regard to budding relationships.  Fanny herself is smart and pretty but very introverted and carries a torch for Edmund, who only has eyes for Mary Crawford.  As in other Austen novels, I kept wondering if some of the characters would ever come to their senses, but then ultimately I usually find that their judgment is better than mine.