MANSFIELD PARK

Fanny Price, one of a dozen children born into a family that can ill afford so many, is sent at the age of 10 to live with her wealthy relatives. In typical Jane Austen form, immutable laws of propriety frame acts both vicious and virtuous, enabling Fanny to find her place in the world. Wanda McCaddon is the ideal choice to present this classic. Her impeccable elocution fits Austen's persnickety style. McCaddon gives a soft, sweet cadence to Fanny's thoughts and words while conveying all the author's derision toward the story's shallow characters. Both story and performance deliver a nineteenth-century “tell-all” just as impossible to resist as the tabloids in the checkout line. R.L.L. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2009]