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Monday, March 29, 2010

Murder at Mansfield Park - cover opinions

A review of Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd will appear on Euro Crime in due course. The UK and Australian editions are both published in April with the US edition out in July. Which cover would entice you to pick it up or is the title alone enough?

UK left, Australian right
















(US cover left)
Murder at Mansfield Park is a witty and clever reimagining of Jane Austen's much-loved novel Mansfield Park. But in this Mansfield Park, things have changed...Formerly Austen's meekest heroine, Fanny Price has become not only an heiress to an extensive fortune but also a heartless, scheming minx. Hiding her true character behind a demure facade, Fanny is indeed betrothed to Edmund, now Mrs Norris's stepson; but do the couple really love each other? Henry and Mary Crawford arrive in the country ready to wreak havoc with their fast city ways, but this time Henry Crawford is troubled by a suspicious past while his sister, Mary, steps forward in the best Austen style to become an unexpected heroine. Meanwhile, tragedy strikes the safe and solid grand house as it becomes the scene of violence. Every member of the family falls under suspicion and the race begins to halt a ruthless murderer.
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6 comments:

  1. Maxine Clarke2:12 pm

    I would not pick this up or read it whatever the cover! But putting that small point aside, I prefer the bottom cover (US).

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  2. Paul Bishop2:32 pm

    I don't see how there can even be a question as to which cover is most effective . . . on leaps off the page while the other two have nothing to catch the eye . . .

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  3. Maxine Clarke9:13 pm

    True, in terms of strikingness, but I would not buy a book with a bosom with blood all over it, I think....unless it was by an author that I had to read and could forgive anything!

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  4. Bernadette11:13 pm

    I like the US cover the best but I think the Australian one is more striking and would inspire more people to pick it up.

    As for wether or not I'll read it...almost definitely not. In some respects I am a traditionalist and think the writings of Ms Austen should be left in peace.

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  5. Ann Elle Altman2:53 am

    I don't like to consider fanny as ruthless but I do love all the covers. I love the third the best.

    ann

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  6. kathy d.3:48 am

    The UK cover strikes me. It's that country estate type of spookiness that is so typically British.

    I would never read a book with blood on a bosom. In fact, covers with injured, murdered, or tortured women turn me right off.

    The U.S. cover is second-best, in my opinion.

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