5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warning:Very Different From Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, May 16, 2005
This review is from: Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3) (Paperback)
I need to isssue this warning for anyone who is interested in this book because it is a remake of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park." The author has taken a lot of liberties with the novel and it is really only loosely based on the beloved novel. There are also a lot of religious undertones. But I find no fault with it, nevertheless. I found it a delighful book, very brilliantly written. This book is a part of a series of modern Christian versions of Jane Austen's novels. I have to say I still prefer the origional, but this was a fun read and very hard to put down. Some people may be disappointed because it is so far from the book it is copied from, Mansfield Park. You do not need to read Mansfield Park to understand this book. In fact, if you do read this and like it I suggest you give Mansfield Park a try!
For those of you have read Mansfield Park:
(here is what is different besides what the change of time periods allows) Thomas Bertram has no sons. He has only a foster son (Edmund in Mansfield) otherwise it would be weird for cousins to date. There is no Tom Bertram, the older brother! I missed the scenes where Fanny nursed him when he was almost dead. It takes place in New York City and Fanny goes to college and hopes to become a teacher. In addition, Edmund falls for the Mary Crawford character while on a mission trip in Paris. Their break up scene is quite different from the novel's and for different reasons.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mansfield Park:
(here is the scenario)
A mother has too many mouths to feed so when her wealthy sister offers to take one of her children away and bring her up in New York City, she sends her eldest and most shy, Francine Pounce. At the age of eleven, Frannie is terrified of the graduer of the brownstone and her Aunt Nora, who always tells her she does not deserve this. Yet her Aunt Mariette and Uncle Tom make her feel welcomed and treat her with every kindness they do their own two daughters: Julia and Mary. They also have a foster son named Ethan who becomes Frannie's first friend, being four years older he is a protective brother to the shy and lonely girl. We start the book at her introduction to this home at the age of 11 and then jump to ten years later when she discovers that she loves Ethan. Frannie has grown into a moral, dependable, wise and generous person we can all admire. Ethan is in the process of becoming ordained. However, he meets a girl. Her name is Carrie Casper and she is rich and gorgeous. Frannie is so disappointed to see her reliable and stable Ethan lose his head over a pretty face. Carrie causes a lot of friction also because she brings her brother, Hugh Casper, who is a womanizer and a flirt. The two sisters become his next conquests. The problem is Mary is engaged yet she has her eyes on Hugh. The only female who is able to repell Hugh is Frannie. He doesn't like that one bit and starts to pursue her! Will Ethan marry Carrie or will he come to his senses in time? Will Frannie see that if she marries Hugh everyone will be happy with her and she can save her poor family? What will the outcome be? You should try and read it, I am sure you will like it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good plot, simplistic language, August 29, 2007
This review is from: Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3) (Paperback)
Ms. Smith has her strong points - modernizing character and plot for one. All six of the books in this series kept me reading to the end because of the really smart plots loosely based on Austen's novels.
However, the writing style is too distracting from the novel and makes the reader too aware of the novel. For example, the main character reads an email and then goes to get ready for a visitor. Instead of simply putting her laptop down, we have to read an entire paragraph describing how she uses "a series of clicks" to close the "machine" down. The novel-speak is very freshman literature "how to write a novel" and takes away from what could have been a great read.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CENTRAL PARK, May 24, 2005
This review is from: Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3) (Paperback)
Highly recommended! I so enjoyed Debra White Smith's CENTRAL PARK, I read it twice. The author has made this story her own, though it's based on Austen's MANSFIELD PARK. These are walk-off-the-page characters, and the spiritual take-away is awesome. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put the book down, and I didn't want the story to end. But it's a delightful ending, too.
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