I did not care for Fanny Price, the protagonist of this novel, which has coloured my enjoyment of it. Like Agnes Grey, she allows a lot of other characters to do the heavy lifting of the plot for her, but she does serve as an excellent focus for the other characters in that we learn a lot about them by how they treat her. This novel has a large cast and while Fanny is the primary member of it, we do not always get her perspective on events, which is a relief as her passivity and timidity - which, thankfully, begin to improve as the novel progresses - would be a terrible lens to view the novel through. The story is a terrific one: as well as Fanny’s Bildungsroman, we also get the story of a family going through some decidedly rough patches as well as discovering that money can’t buy happiness. I will admit that I was a little queasy about Fanny marrying her cousin, especially as her family had been keeping her very sheltered throughout her life so that he was about the only positive male influence she had but that was not an uncommon occurrence in that time.