Product Description

First Impressions, book #1 in Debra White Smith’s Austen series, sold more than 30,000 copies in four months! Now Central Park follows with an intriguing, modern-day story based on Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

Ethan Summers captivates Francine’s youthful heart. Drawn together by a love of learning, they become friends. But Francine dreams that Ethan will return her love. When the beautiful Lylleth appears, Francine is dismayed that Ethan falls under her spell.

When a wealthy man comes calling, Francine recognizes his lack of morals and rejects him. Pressured by her uncle to accept such a fortuitous match, Francine cries out to God. Will she marry someone she doesn’t love? Will Ethan discover what true love is in time to intervene?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #308251 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 348 pages

From the Back Cover
The Austen Series

If you're a Jane Austen fan, you’ll love the engaging characters, contemporary situations, issues of faith, and the intricacies of love in Debra White Smith’s updated retelling of Austen’s endearing stories.

Wrenched from her family, young Francine is terrified by her new life with her Aunt Mariette and Uncle Tom Barrimore in New York City. But their foster son, Ethan, comes to Francine’s rescue. As the years pass, the bond between the two deepen…and they spend many hours enjoying the serenity of Central Park. When Ethan goes to Paris for a missions trip, Francine realizes affection has transformed into love. She dreams of the day Ethan will arrive home and share her love.

But when Ethan returns, he brings two newcomers—the beautiful and wealthy Carrie Casper, who has obviously captured his heart, and her flirtatious brother, who flashes his inviting smile at Francine and her two cousins. As the Caspers cast their spell over the Barrimores, Francine alone senses the danger behind their façade of respectability.

As the days go by, Francine is forced to face the truth: Ethan’s heart belongs to the lovely Carrie. When the playful Hugh turns his charms toward Francine, she wonders if he’s finally left his playboy days behind. Pressured by her uncle to accept Hugh’s advances, Francine is torn between remaining true to a love that will never be or settling for a marriage of convenience.

About the Author
Debra White Smith has more than 40 books to her credit and over 1 million books in print. The author of Romancing Your Husband (more than 100,000 copies sold) and the popular Jane Austen series, Debra’s award-winning writing, entertaining humor, and solid biblical knowledge have made her a reader favorite and a sought-after conference speaker. Debra holds an M.A. in English.

Customer Reviews

Warning:Very Different From Jane Austen's Mansfield Park
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.

Good plot, simplistic language
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.

CENTRAL PARK
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.