In Mansfield Park," " first published in 1814, when the author had reached her
full maturity as a novelist, Jane Austen paints some of her most witty and
perceptive studies of character. Against a genteel country landscape of formal
parks and stately homes, the gossipy Mrs. Norris becomes a masterful comic
creation; the fickle young suitor Henry Crawford provides an unequaled portrait
of an unscrupulous young man; and the complexly drawn Fanny Price emerges as one
of Jane Austen's finest achievements--the poor cousin who comes to stay with her
wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park and learns how the game of love can too
easily turn to folly.