Welcome to Litsy!

Rehearsals are in full swing and stirring up jealousies like nobody's business! Henry is all over Maria, pissing off both Julia and Mr. Rushworth, and Edmund is falling for Mary more each day, which has Fanny straight-up vexed. She's also in her feelings about Mrs. Grant who took on Cottager's Wife is now loved by everyone while Fanny is increasingly ignored and isolated. But soon none of this will matter because uh-oh...Sir Thomas has returned!

Edmund remains totally disapproving of the whole home am-dram concept, but when Tom suggests bringing in some rando to join the fun, he's absolutely aghast. The impropriety! Tom also tries to get Fanny to join in, but our girl's morals are iron-clad and she refuses. The same cannot be said for Edmund who decides that joining in himself would be the lesser of two evils and in a total weaksauce move, he tries to get Fanny to absolve him. Boy, bye.

Oh my godddd, here we go! Suddenly the gang turns into the most cringe theatre kids ever. As a lifelong member of that circle, I can confirm that the level of drama we see here lives on in every high school theatre club, community theatre troupe, and, yes, some professional companies. We even still have stodgy killjoys like Edmund trying to kill the vibe, largely in the form of vile conservatives defunding the NEA (oops, did I say it out loud?).

At Mansfield Park in Northamptonshire
#WhereareyouMonday
@Cupcake12

Mary Crawford showing her true colors in today's chapters: she likes Edmund a lot but his job isn't nearly grand or important enough for her and she tries to persuade him out of taking orders, even though he thinks the role of the clergyman is an important one. They're at an impasse and she flies off to play harp, and then in a maddening display of weakness and male blindness, he proceeds to...sing her praises?! Edmund, she may be pretty, but no.

Everyone continues to be terrible! The gang visits Sotherton and:

-Julia sits with Henry and Maria is a pouty asshole about it
-Mary Crawford shoves her foot directly in her mouth by being pointedly bitchy about the clergy
-Henry flirts with (engaged) Maria all day like the manwhore he is
-Fanny's left on her own again and doesn't even get to see the avenue she came for?!

On the bright side (?), I learned about the window-tax (link in comments).

Edmund and Fanny hang out to judge Mary Crawford but ultimately he's like, "but she's super feminine so it's fine" and goes to listen to her play the harp every single day. Then she starts riding Fanny's horse every day, too, and our girl is stuck at home to cut roses and run needless errands. Edmund feels bad and invites her on the Sotherton visit where Fanny and Mary gleefully catch sight of Edmund at the same time, giving real Pam/Karen vibes.

Rushworth is just another in a long line of tacky blowhards with no taste destroying much-loved places of natural beauty. "Ye fallen avenues, once more I mourn your fate unmerited." #PemberLittens #JaneAustenThenAndNow

Man, this book is full of selfish, thoughtless people: sisters Bertram and Norris set Fanny off on an emotional roller coaster about her living situation without giving two shits; nobody cares that she doesn't have a horse, ie access to fresh air and exercise; Sir Thomas heads off for a year to his slave plantation; and Henry Crawford comes out the gate as a feckless, self-centered ass who won't house his own sister. Shades of behavior to come...

#Pemberlittens I'm already behind on 2 Chapters a Day Readalong of Mansfield Park. Today is my grocery shopping day for 3 day holiday weekend house party. I'm firing up my audiobook read by the fabulous Juliet Stevenson and listening through Chapter 12. That will take me up to Sunday. Monday when things quiet down I go back to print.🛒 🎧 📖

#musingsonmansfield
#janeaustenthenandnow

"About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park,......." #Pemberlittens I'm here! 2 birthday celebrations in 3 days and now getting ready for holiday weekend house party has me a bit discombobulated. I used this Readalong as excuse to buy to copies off Ebay.

#JaneAustenThenAndNow
#MusingsOnMansfield

And we're off! We open with a portrait of three sisters- one very well-married, one relatively well-married, and one, well...whomp, whomp. Poor Mrs. Price has too many children and not enough income so the eldest girl is pawned off onto wealthy relations. Can I just say, if you're going to rip a child from her home, could you maybe greet her with ANY kind of affection and not just offer a snack?! I don't blame Fanny for breaking down in tears!

First two chapters of the #buddyread done! #janeaustenthenandnow @Crinoline_Laphroaig

#PemberLittens, are we even ready?! I LOOOVE Mansfield Park and have very little chill about it. I'm so psyched for two chapters a day of quiet self-denial, bitchy cousins, the aunt from hell, my least favorite Austen fuckboy, a romantic hero that nobody likes, and moral outrage about the lamest play ever put on by a bunch of kids in a living room. And yet...I adore every bit of it and can't wait to return, every single time. #JaneAustenThenAndNow

There is no reason in the world why you should not be important where you are known.

As always Austen has masterful character and symbolic work, but Fanny felt a bit too much of an abused victim, that let's themselves get walked all over by others, but deep inside they have strong opinions(tm).

It's not that a meek character cannot be interesting, its that on top of ot all Fanny is very judgemental and puritanical and I did not care for it.

I just got done listening to the BBC Mansfield Park. I loved it. One of the narrators was Benedict Cumberbatch. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

Watching the 1983 BBC version of Mansfield Park, which is on Prime currently, and I recommend it for three reasons:
1. Angela Pleasence as Lady Bertram does the best portrayal of a vapid, drug addict idle housewife I have ever seen.
2. Fanny, played by Sylvestra Le Touzel, occasionally gets this look on her face that clearly says "Go ahead, keep it up, I am plotting to murder you all with an ax."
3. It follows the book very closely.

Pretty early in the book (Just finished Ch 16 of Book 1), there's excellent characterisation of the societal norms, but the story drags, things hardly happen, and Fanny is so uninteresting and prudish.

On one hand, it's very refreshing to see, but on the other, it's hard being invested in a meek character who hardly speaks up and lets everyone walk all over them. I'm hoping Fanny eventually gains some semblance of confidence.

How come most people apparently don't like this book?
I loooooovvvvvveeeeeeedddddd this! So cute.
I'm not sure I'll watch the movies, though... Does anyone recommend them?

Current reads:
* 20 pages per day of Mansfield Park (it's wonderful reading Austen again, the nuances and the wit are one of the reasons I'm taking my time)
*2 essays per day in Preston's The Lost Tomb
*Starting dilouie's How to Make a Horror Movie & Survive

This show up in my Facebook Memories from 2021. I was doing Chapter A Day of W&P and
"Today also starts my #Pemberlittens Readalong......Mansfield Park is the first of Jane Austen's novels to be conceived as well as executed and published in maturity." It‘s been ages since I've read Mansfield Park. Much as Jane wrote this with older eyes, I'm looking forward to reading through older eyes. ? #musingsonmansfield

#PemberLittens

#Chirp #Audiobook deal

$2.99 for a limited time (2024)

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/mansfield-park-by-jane-austen-45ba197709?p...

After two years of doing this I think I still have enough unread books to continue! So I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it.

#ABookADay2025

3✨A coming of age story, family, and relationships. This had a lot going on, but it was an enjoyable read.

Okay, when I opened book # 16 for today, I squealed with excitement! Mansfield Park is my absolute favorite Jane Austen book! And I love the color also! 🩵🩵🩵

❤️ Book 15: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
💚 Book 16: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Happy Jane Austen's birthday to all who celebrate! I am getting REALLY excited to read her novels again with the #PemberLittens in 2025. I'm also really excited to break out this gorgeous new copy of Mansfield Park and *dig in deep*. Who's ready to join me on the Fanny Price Defense Squad? Up with strongly held principles! Down with am-dram hedonism! #HappyBirthdayJane #JaneAusten

#Contemplation 🤔

#DaysDevotedTo… 🍂☕️🧣🍁🌙🥧🕯

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

Hoping my bookshop/library friends can help me!

I have been collecting Paper Mill Press editions of classics and have made a very preventable mistake. I didn't check before starting and now I am unsure if they have made literally all but one of Austen's completed novels?
I have been searching and googling for this collections Mansfield Park and am not finding it anywhere? They are soft leather bound editions.
If anyone could find the ISBN...👇

#SummerSouls #Park
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Up next…I‘m a little behind on my classics goal for the year.

Number 3 of #14books14weeks

It‘s my June #doublespin 📚

#unreadbookshelf
#bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

I find it so fascinating that as I get older this is starting to become one of my favorite Austen‘s even though Fanny and I are nothing alike, and IRL as I get older I actually get less and less patient with persistent romantic advances, and probably wouldnt‘ve forgiven Edmund for his part in the whole “just give Henry a chance” campaign.

Having a British author breakfast: Bath buns and Brontë tea.

On that event they removed to Mansfield; and the Parsonage there, which, under each of its two former owners, Fanny had never been able to approach but with some painful sensation of restraint or alarm, soon grew as dear to her heart, and as thoroughly perfect in her eyes, as everything else within the view and patronage of Mansfield Park had long been.
#MansfieldPark #JaneAusten #Classics #Fiction #Romance #HistoricalFiction #Literature 🩷🩷🩷🩷

This was the last Austen novel I hadn't read. I enjoyed it, but I can see why it's not as popular as P&P or Emma. Fanny isn't as easy to root because she's so painfully reticent. The romance wasn't really there. I loved the drama & the double shocker at the end, but I wish living alone had been an option for Fanny (instead of the tacked on ending). I want to research the implications of Sir Bertram's business in Antigua. Probably bad, right? 😬

I just started chapter 34 of my first reading, and I'm currently annoyed with everyone except Dr. Grant. 😂

Today is the day! Prof. Stacey‘s TBR fable book club begins reading Mansfield Park. Come join us. The club is open to anyone and can be read in any format. Just download the Fable app and use the link below. #bookclub #buddyread #profstaceystbr

https://fable.co/club/prof-staceys-tbr-book-club-with-stacey-lettini-33812063356...

#firstlinefridays #rereadingsummer

In 2 days Prof. Stacey‘s TBR Fable Bookclub will begin reading Mansfield Park. Join us

The club is open to anyone and the book can be read in any format. Download the Fable App and use the link below to join the club! #profstaceystbr #bookclub #buddyread

https://fable.co/club/prof-staceys-tbr-book-club-with-stacey-lettini-33812063356...

A bout thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronets lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income. #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Enjoying my Jane Austen mug (yes, I know it‘s the wrong book) and Mansfield Park this afternoon! #rereadingsummer #wordcloudeditions

Join us for the next installment of #ProfStaceysTBR Fable Book Club. We will be reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Open to everyone and you can read in any format. Reading and discussion begins Sept. 10th. Join by downloading the Fable app and using the link below.

https://fable.co/club/prof-staceys-tbr-book-club-with-stacey-lettini-33812063356...

My Mansfield Park collection isn't as extensive as Pride and Prejudice but I do have three beautiful editions. All are from sets that #Pemberlittens gifted me. That makes them so special to me.

I'm really enjoying my reread. I've been swapping between editions. Today it's Wordsworth paperback. Love the fans on the cover. 💖💕

#bookpeoplearethebestpeople
#austeninaugust #musingonmansfield

Backyard reading day featuring some lovely flowers and a criminally underrated Austen tome- Edmund notwithstanding. #PemberLittens #CurrentlyReading

Finished this a few weeks ago, the last Austen novel I had yet to read. I think it is my least favorite. Fanny is such a pathetic character and Edmund just seemed to settle for her in the end which was disappointing. I did enjoy Henry Crawford's character, he was more complex and devious. He was always stirring up trouble and I did appreciate that Fanny stood by her opinion of him through it all - the only time she seemed to be a strong character.

It's time to read some classics. Who better to start with than Jane Austen.

Day 2 of the #20in4 readathon saw a lot of #audiocrocheting - working on my temperature blanket
I finished one audiobook and made progress in the tagged. Mansfield is the only Austen I still haven't read so I'm finally tackling it. I'm about halfway through and I absolutely hate Mrs. Norris but Sir Thomas is surprisingly growing on me.
#litsycrafters @Catsandbooks @Andrew65