Mansfield Park

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Alice Marti

Frances "Fanny" Price, at age 10, is sent from her overburdened family home to live with her uncle and aunt in the country in Northamptonshire. It is a jolting change, from the elder sister of many, to the youngest at the estate of Sir Thomas Bertram, husband of her mother's older sister.

Her aunt is kind but her uncle frightens her with his authoritative demeanor. Fanny's mother has another sister, Mrs. Norris, who doesn't like and mistreats Fanny. The story follows Fanny's development from troubling adaptation in the wealthy household, through turbulent adolescence, to marriage.

Public Domain (P)2019 Musaicum Books

Nuanced and agreeable narration

I already own several other narrations of Mansfield Park, but the purpose of this listen is accompany the Reading Jane Austen podcast (readingjaneausten dot com). Therefore, I sought a narrator without theatrical flourishes or affectations. I didn’t want a performance but the intimacy of listening to a friend who reads well. Though I don’t know this narrator personally, she seems like a kindred spirit.

Alice Marti reads well. Her voice is pleasing and though she doesn’t affect different “voices,” her tone and intonation convey the personality of each character. If you are reading this book for the first time, this version is whispersync ready, allowing one to follow along with the kindle version. And if Mansfield Park is an old favorite, Marti’s narration is soothing but not soporific

Some narrators say they never read a book in advance, so that the words will be fresh, yet this can be a disservice to a work as complex as Mansfield Park. Alice Marti seems to know this book inside out and never strikes a discordant note.

Highly recommend.