Mansfield Park

My latest read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Very entertaining with a little more intrigue than the usual Austen. Her character of Fanny Price is perhaps the wisest and most moral of any of hers I've read so far. Fanny's reserve and introspection make me identify with her the most strongly of the Austen heroines and I hope I have the same good sense she does, although I doubt it. In this story, Fanny is raised from the age of ten by her wealthy uncle and aunt along with her four cousins. Befriended by her cousin Edmund when they are children, he educates and guides her through their childhood and she becomes his confidante. This relationship is central in the book, and the characters surrounding Fanny and Edmund seem to highlight their high moral standards by being either silly or progressively wicked. Through flirtation, intimacies, play-acting, and ultimately infidelity, Austen weaves her most outright moral plot emphasizing the necessity of adherence to principle. The wise, just Fanny wins all in a satisfying happy ending.