I like that possibility. Wasn't MP published posthumously? I wonder if she would have gone back and edited Fanny a little more. She does come across as almost inhuman to me, whether too virtuous or just too insipid. MP was the first Austen I ever read, and I wanted to reach into the book, grab Fanny by the shoulders, and shake her till she saw sense! (I was about 12, in my defense). I've never much cared for the novel because I feel like so much of it is just watching this poor little mouse get knocked around.
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