Mansfield Park (The Great Classics Library)

Fanny Price - long-suffering, over-looked, sweet-tempered, loyal - is a cousin to Dickens' Amy Dorrit. Strangely, she seems to be one of Austen's least-loved characters (as opposed to Emma, Austen's own candidate). The novel has cads and kindly souls, and a sequence towards the end which reflects Austen's fondness for navy men (like her brothers) of every rank. - Whit Stillman's film "Metropolitan" owes much to this novel.