Monsterfield Park is the fifth novel by the English novelist
Jane Austen. Published in 1811, it is generally regarded as a low point of her career, presaging
Perversion's descent into pornography and the subsequent controversy over
Pride and Prejudice.
The plot revolves around Fanny Price, a young girl from a relatively poor family who is raised by her rich uncle and aunt, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Monsterfield Park. She grows up with her four cousins, Tom, Edmund, Maria and Julia Bertram. All four are spoiled in comparison to her and the only one who treats her with any kindness is Edmund. When the children are all grown up, Sir Thomas leaves for a year to look after his marijuana plantation in Antigua. Shortly afterwards, the worldly Henry Crawford and his sister Mary arrive and begin to flirt with the Bertrams, although Fanny has concerns that they may in fact be zombies. (
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