Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

This is my favorite Jane Austen novel. I love the main character Fanny Price because she has a strong sense of what is right. She is brought to her Uncle and Aunts estate, Mansfield Park, when she is a child. She grows up among her cousins Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia. Soon Henry and Mary Crawford, brother and sister to the new reverend at Mansfield Park, join the party. Henry Crawford flirts with both Julia and Maria, focusing more on Maria, even though she is engaged. Fanny is an observer of his behavior toward her cousins and confidant of Edmund, who is enamored of Mary Crawford. Fanny does not like either of the Crawfords; her own feelings for Edmond figure in some of her feelings toward  Mary. Eventually after events with her cousins go awry, Henry turns his attentions to Fanny. At first he wanted to woo her as a challenge, irrespective of the feelings of Fanny, but he does   develop feelings for her. Fanny repels him to everyone around her displeasure. She holds fast to rejecting him because she saw his character in his treatment of her cousin Maria. Scandal will find Henry and Maria when they meet at a gathering in London and run off together. Fanny is vindicated for not giving in to Henry and to her delight, Mary Crawfords spell over Edmond is broken after she makes light of the situation. Everything turns out well for the rest of the Mansfield family, especially Fanny. Her steadfast morals and even chastising herself when she feels ungrateful to her family and friends, makes her one of my favorite Austen heroines.