Crabby aunts & their poor nieces

A poor niece from a large family is taken by well-to-do aunts at the age of ten in both English Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" (1814) & American Kate Douglas Wiggin's "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1903). In both cases, the girls have to live with two aunts, one tolerant & one hostile.

Austen's demure Fanny Price is taken for granted by her valetudinarian aunt Bertram, but put down at every opportunity by aunt Norris, who contributes nothing for her upkeep. 

Wiggin's lively Rebecca is disliked by her aunt Miranda but supported by aunt Jane, who herself is in awe of her elder sister Miranda.

However, the girls get recompensed at the end, of course after many trials & tribulations. Cousin Edmund, a clergyman, realises the worth of the self-effacing Fanny Price & marries her. Strict aunt Miranda leaves all her property to Rebecca at her death.

In both novels, there is perfect evocation of the milieu of 19th Century England on the one hand & early 20th Century USA on the other.