Kate Atkinson on morals, meaning and Mansfield Park

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As Jane Austen turns 250, biographer and writer Dr Paula Byrne is joined by prominent thinkers, writers, directors who tell her about their encounters with the famous author. Each of her guests has been shaped and changed by Jane Austen. Paula's guests inspire her own reflections, drawn from the places that held special meaning for Austen. Today's guest - Kate Atkinson. The writer Kate Atkinson didn't love Austen's third novel nor its heroine at first. But in recent years, she's come to appreciate the complexity and subtlety of Mansfield Park and its quiet pious lead character Fanny Price. There are many things that fascinate her about the novel including the way its central character doesn't change and isn't perhaps as immediately appealing as Austen's other heroines. Kate and Paula discuss Fanny's ethics and religion and how she might reflect Austen's own faith. They examine a crucial moment in the novel when Fanny is gifted a cross and Kate reveals how a personal object is buried in her own novel, A God in Ruins. Mansfield Park is an ethical book - and Kate and Paula explore how it subtly engages with major issues of the day. Kate reflects that it's a book you need to return to again and again, as great novels perhaps ask of us. Presenter: Dr Paula Byrne Reader: Gemma Whelan Producer: Camellia Sinclair