The novel tells the story of Fanny Price starting when her overburdened family sends her at age 10 to live in the household of her wealthy aunt and uncle, through to her marriage. The critical reception from the late 20th century onward marks Mansfield Park as Austen's most controversial novel as it briefly mentions the British slave trade and touches upon the issue of Sir Thomas owning a plantation in the West Indies, with others not finding this trip to Antigua as other than a plot device for Sir Thomas's long absence. Sir Thomas is the uncle and benefactor of Fanny Price in the novel. The late Edward Said criticized the novel for not adding clarity to its critique of Sir Thomas for the profits which he and his son had reaped from his plantation holdings in the West Indies.

Two notable film versions of the novel were released: 1999 and 2007