Of all Jane Austen’s heroines, Fanny Price of Mansfield Park is surely the least appealing, the most ‘foreign’ to our age. Unlike Emma’s assertiveness and Lizzy’s humour, Fanny’s combination of self-effacement and moral conviction are at odds with modern core values. Yet Mansfield Park is a beautifully crafted and mature novel and by the second half Fanny is also coming into her own. I love this novel for its exploration of integrity, self-control and character, family relationships and how our upbringings shape us. A beautiful, thoughtful and through-provoking novel that has the potential to stretch us where we are weak and reactive.