Freely adapted from Jane Austen's novel, this period drama is set in the early 1800s, as Fanny (Hannah Taylor Gordon) is being raised by loving but desperately poor parents. Wanting a better life for Fanny, they send her away to live with her aunts, high-minded Mrs. Norris (Sheila Gish) and drug-addicted Lady Bertram (Lindsay Duncan), who share an estate called Mansfield Park. Fanny joins the family at Mansfield Park, which includes Lady Bertram's husband, Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), who has made his money in slaves and West Indian plantations; Sir Thomas's alcoholic son Tom (James Purefoy); Tom's intelligent younger brother, Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller); and his two sisters, Julia (Justine Waddell) and Maria (Victoria Hamilton). Fanny soon makes friends with Edmund, though she's shown little respect by the rest of the family. In time, Fanny grows to adulthood (now played by Frances O'Connor) and gains skill and poise as a horsewoman while developing her skills as an author. When the stylish but secretive siblings Henry and Mary Crawford (Alessandro Nivola and Embeth Davidtz) arrive at Mansfield Park, romantic sparks begin to fly; the two sisters fight over Henry, while Mary is soon engaged to Edmund, to the disappointment of Fanny, who has fallen in love with him.