Lady Susan

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Laurelle Westaway, David Thorn, Susan McCarthy

After Jane Austen's earliest known writings, she began a more serious work, Lady Susan, in 1793 or 1794. It is a short, epistolary novel that portrays a woman bent on the exercise of her own powerful mind and personality to the point of social self-destruction.

Lady Susan, a clever and ruthless widow, determines that her daughter is going to marry a man whom both detest. Lady Susan sets her own sights on her sister-in-law's brother, all the while keeping an old affair simmering on the back burner. But people refuse to play the roles assigned them, and in the end her daughter gets the sister-in-law's brother, the old affair runs out of steam, and all that is left for Lady Susan is the man intended for her daughter, the one neither can abide.

Jane Austen ended this work abruptly with the comment: "This correspondence...could not, to the great detriment of the Post Office revenue, be continued any longer."

(P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Character is revealed, plot unfolds, suspense builds - all through the device of letters exchanged amongst Lady Susan, her family, friends, and enemies." (AudioFile)

Excellent early work for a young Jane Austen!

The story is told via letters/correspondence between the characters and despite this type of delivery still is a delight to read and really shows her talents at an early age of around 20. Highly recommend!

Funny

A story written in letters may not always be entertaining, but this one certainly is. It's probably because Jane Austen was a genius. I love all the "tea" that was spilled. haha

Unfinished

You can tell that this is not Austen at her most polished and complete. And to my modern ears, the epistolary form makes me feel disconnected from the story, as if all the action is happening off stage.

So good!

So good!
I can honestly say that this is probably one of favorite Jane Austen books, even though the ending is rather abrupt. The multi-voice reading truly added to the audiobook and it was really good! Thank you! If you’re in the fence, READ IT!

Juvenalia of Jane Austin

This should be interesting to her biggest fans. I enjoyed it well enough, though I found the performances B grade. It's got some of the JA wit, but with less finesse than her later work.