Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park FINAL EPISODE: Ep. 11 - Complete Novel, Read by Jess Connell

[@kittyb9383]

Oh Jess, I've enjoyed your reading so much, I'm quite sad the story has ended... will have to watch the movies and series to compare, and will definitely listen to your reading again. You've put so much work, enthusiasm and love into the readings, and it's no small task to read such a long story. I do hope other viewers give this series a try, am sure you will find much to enjoy, stepping into Jane Austen's world with Jess.

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Yes it was a labor of love but I suppose my own heart and mind needed the rest that this story provided. I really did enjoy reading it with you all and presenting the book to you. 💖🎉 thank you for your kind comments! My hope is that people will continue to discover this audiobook over time. That’s one of the beautiful things about KZbin, that, as people discover the channel, they can rifle back through my playlists and find this one tucked in there. 😍👍🏻📖❤️

[@anncarper8163]

The ending was a surprise! I really thought Henry and Mary had changed for the better. Sadly, I think Henry really did love Fanny, but in that one moment, he let vanity and ego get the better of him. Sometimes one bad decision can have repercussions that last for years. But I'm glad Fanny and Edmund finally got together. I like to imagine Lady Bertram giving them a puppy for a wedding gift. 😊. Thank you so much for reading this book to us, Jess. I really looked forward to each video and enjoyed it. Can't beat the old classics! 😊

[@Jess_Connell]

How good to hear a take on the story with your fresh eyes! YES it did appear that there had been change in each of them, and yet, that changeability showed itself continuing when they each morphed once they went a distance away from Mansfield. Very interesting to see the way their habits of judgment and preferences were altered by their peers. I suppose that's instructive for all of us. Oh I love your idea of the puppy & I wish Austen had thought to include that in her final few paragraphs. What a fun thought! I'm truly glad to hear that you enjoyed the book. It was such a fun, heart-refreshing read for me, and it was enjoyable to have others along for the tale!

[@rikkiharcourt3868]

Even after all these years I so enjoyed the way miss Austen critically unwraps complicated characters . I am sure I made a few wise decisions in my life entirely due to Jane’s tutorage………in fact I am sure of it.

[@Jess_Connell]

Yes!! It’s so fascinating to see how she gets at motives, heart, desires, influences. And somehow still keeps it snappy enough that we retain interest in the story. Very insightful.

[@megansovik5629]

Thanks so much for this delightful reading. The thing I loved most about this book is Jane Austens drawing out of Fanny vhsracter. We learn with knots in our stomach her trials and are overjoyed at her ultimate happiness. Only a great author can do this.

[@Jess_Connell]

Yes! Good call! Austen’s skill seemed very great to me… better than I remembered from other books.

[@kungazopa2831]

I enjoyed this personal reading you have created for us Jess. As regards Fanny, she is too much of a marshmallow for me but at least she had the strength of moral fiber in her make up to win the day. I am surprised at the acceptance of marrying one's second cousin in Jane Austen's day too. Cheers from Pam and thank you again Jess.

[@Jess_Connell]

It really is a fascinating thing- to marry your cousin. WOW. Funny, your term- 'marshmallow' is different from how I would describe her... to me she was somewhat the opposite of that: inwardly a rock, with high impenetrable walls to guard her true self unless she truly trusted a person. Just not at all willing to be won over by lesser trivial sorts of persons than those who would truly challenge and sharpen her. Am I misunderstanding your meaning? So glad you were here for the readings & that we could enjoy the story together. I'm grateful for that, and truly enjoyed it.

[@summera2994]

I have not read Jane Austin since I was a teenager and had never read Mansfield Park. I am now about your age, Jess, and mother to 3 youngish children 7-11 years old. While I can still appreciate her writing style, and the delightful interactions she describes with her words, I cannot help but feel her apprehension of human foibles and relationships is rather immature, something I would not have noticed as a teenager. But then again, perhaps it is I who still needs to learn more about the subject. More can also be said on the respective roles of men and women in the story as well as the straight jackets of class, breeding and education. Thank you such for this reading!

[@Jess_Connell]

That’s interesting. Is there an example of the immaturity you mean? Thanks for sharing your observations!

[@ninahill2319]

see you tomorrow

[@Jess_Connell]

👑😍🎉

[@annelikriek6294]

When I first read Mansfield I had so much hope for Henry Crawford, I was so happy to be surprised that she will at the end marry Henry. But alas it was not meant to be. I just feel that Fanny and Edmund is so closely related! The children of two sisters and brought up almost as brother and sister. I do think the main theme is not necessarily about Fanny's sensibility but about the folly of EVERYONE, even of Edmund's and even, at a few times, of Fanny's. That is why I love Austen, everyone is human, no one is perfect. All her best heroine's are very flawed - Anne Eliot, my favourite, was to easily persuaded; Emma Woodhouse was deluded, silly, meddling and even jealous; Marianne and Elinor lets just say one an emotional wreck and the other to quiet and stoic; Elizabeth Bennit, or maybe she's my favourite, was ...too complex to sum-up here. I dare say you get the idea. And yes, I love how Austen's uses opposites that help the reader define and understand each other.

[@Jess_Connell]

Oh what wonderful insights!! Yes the close relations is a troublesome and definitely cultural thing for that time period. It would not be so today. I love your comment so much! Yes, the beautiful contrasts show such rich insights about character strengths and defects.