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    Lady Susan
    Lady Susan
    Lady Susan
    Ebook79 pages1 hour

    Lady Susan

    By Jane Austen

    3.5/5

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    Lady Susan is a short epistolary novel by Jane Austen, possibly written in 1794 but not published until 1871.This epistolary novel, an early complete work that the author never submitted for publication, describes the schemes of the main character—the widowed Lady Susan—as she seeks a new husband for herself and one for her daughter. Although the theme, together with the focus on character study and moral issues, is close to Austen's published work (Sense and Sensibility was also originally written in the epistolary form), its outlook is very different, and the heroine has few parallels in 19th-century literature. Lady Susan is a selfish, unscrupulous and scheming woman, highly attractive to men, who tries to trap the best possible husband while maintaining a relationship with a married man. She subverts all the standards of the romantic novel: she has an active role, she is not only beautiful but intelligent and witty, and her suitors are significantly younger than she is (in contrast with Sense and Sensibility and Emma, which feature marriages by their female protagonists to men who are 16 years older). Although the ending includes a traditional reward for morality, Lady Susan herself is treated more leniently than the adulteress in Mansfield Park, who is severely punished.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJane Austen
    Release dateApr 15, 2015
    ISBN9786050372557
    Author

    Jane Austen

    About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income. All Huntingdon exclaimed on the greatness of the match, and her uncle, the lawyer, himself, allowed her to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it. She had two sisters to be benefited by her elevation; and such of their acquaintance as thought Miss Ward and Miss Frances quite as handsome as Miss Maria, did not scruple to predict their marrying with almost equal advantage. But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them. Miss Ward, at the end of half a dozen years, found herself obliged to be attached to the Rev. Mr. Norris, a friend of her brother-in-law, with scarcely any private fortune, and Miss Frances fared yet worse. Miss Ward's match, indeed, when it came to the point, was not contemptible: Sir Thomas being happily able to give his friend an income in the living of Mansfield; and Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal felicity with very little less than a thousand a year. But Miss Frances married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice. Sir Thomas Bertram had interest, which, from principle as well as pridefrom a general wish of doing right, and a desire of seeing all that were connected with him in situations of respectability, he would have been glad to exert for the advantage of Lady Bertram's sister; but her husband's profession was such as no interest could reach; and before he had time to devise any other method of assisting them, an absolute breach between the sisters had taken place. It was the natural result of the conduct of each party, and such as a very imprudent marriage almost always produces. To save herself from useless remonstrance, Mrs. Price never wrote to her family on the subject till actually married. Lady Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings, and a temper remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter; but Mrs. Norris had a spirit of activity, which could not be satisfied till she had written a long and angry letter to Fanny, to point out the folly of her conduct, and threaten her with all its possible ill consequences. Mrs. Price, in her turn, was injured and angry; and an answer, which comprehended each sister in its bitterness, and bestowed such very disrespectful reflections on the pride of Sir Thomas as Mrs. Norris could not possibly keep to herself, put an end to all intercourse between them for a considerable period.

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    Reviews for Lady Susan

    3.5/5

    565 ratings50 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Such a witty, sarcastic, fun epistolary, starring some of the bitchiest, deliciously nasty lady villains I've read in a while. Lady Susan and Mrs. Johnson are some seriously devious, shallow chicks. Jane Austen wrote this when she was 18, and I wish she had turned it in to a whole novel.
    • 3/5
      I'd never read an epistolary novel prior to Lady Susan, although I understand it was once a popular format. The he-said she-said back and forth did suit the story well enough, but I missed real narrative prose and the format felt limiting. That said, the characters were compelling and the writing solid.

      Lady Susan herself really interested me. She has remarkable depth. I couldn't stand her, but she's quite real enough (classic Enneagram type 2 villain). I took issue only with her overly candid letters to her friend. Someone like Lady Susan should be a true believer in all of her own deceits, making it really difficult to come clean, even to a close friend.





    • 3/5
      For such a short novel, Austen packed a lot in. I enjoyed the epistolary style, the to-ing and fro-ing of gossip and scheming, the outrage at other people's behaviour. I found the lack of descriptions of houses, balls, soldiers and country mansions refreshing, and appreciated the definition of the characters through other people's perceptions of them rather than a straight narrative description. Perhaps because the titular character is in her mid 30s, the book seemed more mature than the other Austen books I've read. Lady Susan is a horror but she's also very winning. I think I would have enjoyed her company. She's like my other favourite Austen characters, Lizzie Bennett and Emma Woodhouse - feisty and impetuous, but with the added naughtiness of being a marriage wrecker and arch manipulator. I should disparage her, but she's too much fun!
    • 3/5
      The tale of a manipulative, charmingly evil woman told through letters. Reading the varying accounts of her dealings is great fun.
    • 5/5
      I'm extremely happy to have read this little book of letters, great concept. As I was reading, Lady Susan reminded me of a movie I'd watched called Lillie played by Francesca Annis made in 1978. I would recommend this book to lovers of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and Historical/Regency Fiction.
    • 4/5
      I am not really a Jane Austen fan, but I thought this was an amusing novella about a manipulative schemer. When Lady Susan is caught out in one of her schemes, one of the characters commiserates with her by saying "facts are such horrid things". The unfortunate husband of one of the characters is described as being "too old to be agreeable, too young to die".The story is told in the form of letters and the various narrators of the audio book did a good job with the characters.
    • 3/5
      The book was ok and I liked how all characters were represented in the letters, which allows readers to see what is going on from all perspectives.
    • 5/5
      Lady Susan is not your typical Jane Austen’s character, she is actually quite despicable, an anti-heroine, who lies and schemes.
      I didn’t expect this, as usually Jane Austen’s protagonists are good and honest, but I have to say it made this short story interesting.
      However the book has its happy ending… at least for some of the characters.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful tale told through letters between friends and family. Lady Susan is hunting for a new husband by tricking the eligible (and non-eligible) men into thinking she is the perfect woman. The ending is a bit abrupt as the letters no longer need to be written. However, the story kept me happily occupied for a night.
    • 3/5
      This is obviously not comparable to Austen's better known works. I listened to it on a public domain website.

      The story consists of a series of letters that are exchanged between various characters. The sophisticated, witty, elegant and recently widowed Lady Susan is on the hunt for a second husband. Dragging her unloved and neglected daughter in her wake she proceeds to visit the households of a number of relatives in order to pursue a match. Her flirtatious behaviour and carelessness with the feelings of all those in her path are the subject of much letter-gossip. To her face, the perpetrators of course remain impeccably courteous.

      Austen's novels are brilliant because they accurately portray human behaviour in a way that most authors shy away from. She reveals the true hearts of her characters, in this book through letters. As always, she turns the awkward, uncomfortable but necessary pretences of society into humour. She is no doubt revealing her own amusement through her writing and comments extensively on romantic relationships and her views of them in the process...

      Silly woman to expect constancy in so charming a man.

      This was worth listening to but it would probably have been easier to read as it was hard at times to keep up with the characters due to the constant flow of letters. There is obviously no bad language, violence or sexual content--just a bit of polite flirting!



    • 4/5
      Had not read this short, epistolary novella before. Every sentence was thoroughly enjoyable Jane Austen. But it doesn't compare to any of her best novels or even to any of her worst novels. Only one character is particularly interesting, the title character of Lady Susan, who is heartless and selfish in an eerily modern manner (complete with affairs with married men and flirtations with younger men). I could imagine her daughter being interesting, but we only glimpse her indirectly and from a distance. And everyone else feels mostly like a stock Regency character.
    • 3/5
      This one was a little harder for me to follow. I think it was the format that threw me off. Overall though, I still liked it.
    • 3/5
      Shock! Horror! I read another book by Jane Austen, and rather enjoyed it. I'll have to give up my reputation of being a sceptic, I think. It's not a genre I usually enjoy, but Austen's writing is easy to read and not hard to get absorbed in. Lady Susan is somewhat different than Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice -- it's an epistolary novel, so it relies on Austen's ability to create voices for her characters, really.

      At first I thought I wasn't going to get along with it very well. The first few letters, it was hard to tell who was writing to who, for me. I didn't think the characters and voices were all that distinct. But giving it a chance worked out. The most distinct character is, of course, Lady Susan herself -- not that she is the most likeable. In a way, she's an unreliable narrator, but even she can't really conceal what she's actually up to. The reader certainly isn't deceived by her for very long. The other characters in the novel mostly just react to her, so they aren't quite as distinct, but they're well-meaning and not unlikeable.

      The abrupt end of the novel was disappointing, though. I had to wonder if Austen got tired of trying to write it through the more difficult method of letters and decided to just end it with a wave of the godly author's hand (TM). The conclusion is pretty unsatisfying because of it.
    • 5/5
      Very well written. A series of letters between various characters making an enticing story.
    • 3/5
      This was recommended to me as an easy entree into the work of Jane Austen; it was written when she was only 19, I gather. I found that hard to credit as I read it; an epistolary novel, the characters gradually emerge from their correspondence, and much of the sly humour springs from the difference in how the various characters interpret things, and their true opinions as opposed to the ones they give out, and how Lady Susan believes she is, and how others see her. It is catty, worldly, and rollicking good fun ... and then all of a sudden it ends, with an authorial Conclusion, as if the young Jane had got fed up of it, and finished it off in a hurry, and you realise that yes, she was only 19 after all.

      It did its job, though: I am now much tempted to investigate her mature work, which I never was before. I should have given it four stars, but for the hasty wrap-up (I wanted to see something of Frederica's true character).
    • 4/5
      I loved this short epistolary novella detailing the selfish and devious nature of the titular character. What an incisive sketch of a horrible woman! Besides providing an hour or so’s entertainment, it has inspired me to seek out the other minor works of Austen.
    • 5/5
      Jane Austen's ability to write about a character so indifferent to the feelings of those around her is quite remarkable. While making a character so cruel, she also made me utterly despise Lady Susan and she ended the book on a relatively happy note. Lady Susan was great read!
    • 4/5
      Had not read this short, epistolary novella before. Every sentence was thoroughly enjoyable Jane Austen. But it doesn't compare to any of her best novels or even to any of her worst novels. Only one character is particularly interesting, the title character of Lady Susan, who is heartless and selfish in an eerily modern manner (complete with affairs with married men and flirtations with younger men). I could imagine her daughter being interesting, but we only glimpse her indirectly and from a distance. And everyone else feels mostly like a stock Regency character.
    • 4/5
      This was a nice quick read. Written as a series of letters between Lady Susan, a recently widowed femme fatale, and her friend who shares her manipulative ways, and various in laws worried about the recently widowed woman's influence on her sister in law's brother. A nicely done portrait of a despicable woman.
    • 4/5
      Unlike any other Jane Austen book you have ever read, the title character is unlike any other Jane Austen protagonist you have ever encountered...or is she the antagonist?
    • 5/5
      What's not to enjoy about Jane Austen? In this short epistolary novel, Jane's wit shines as ever in her ironic views of the world and her vivid characterizations. A must for any Austen fan.
    • 4/5
      Lady Susan is either the first or the last of Jane Austen's books to read. For someone new to Austen, it might be a good introduction since it is short and has a very spicy character in the form of Lady Susan herself. On the other hand, the epistolary format might throw off some readers and it was a little tricky at first, keeping track of who was writing to whom since the letters are coming from several different characters.If you would like to read Jane Austen's works in chronological order, I recommend beginning with Lady Susan.
    • 2/5
      Beautiful, flirtatious, and recently widowed, Lady Susan Vernon seeks an advantageous second marriage for herself, while attempting to push her daughter into a dismal match. A magnificently crafted novel of Regency manners and mores that will delight Austen enthusiasts with its wit and elegant expression.
    • 5/5
      Lady Susan is a short epistolary novel, assumed to be written around 1794, but which was only published in 1871. We quickly learn that the heroine Lady Susan, though reputedly very beautiful, is also a wicked and perverse woman. Recently widowed, though having always been a terrible flirt, she sows discord between a man and his wife when she encourages the man make advances to her. To her particular friend Mrs. Johnson she tells what must be close to her true thoughts, while with everyone else she puts on a show of virtue and motherly love, though we know she's put her daughter in a private London school for girls which has intolerable living conditions, with the sole object of wearing her down, to force her to marry a man she has chosen for her and abhors. It reminded me in some ways of that other famous epistolary novel [Les Liaisons Dangereuses], not least of all because Lady Susan could certainly have competed with the Marquise de Merteuil for undiluted hypocrisy and depravity. It's a short work, just 2.5 hours in audio format, this version being narrated by a fantastic cast of actors. Delightful.
    • 5/5
      Several months ago I started reading Lady Susan with a sense of foreboding—so many negative reviews, plus my dislike for epistolary novels—and ended up devouring Miss Austen’s story! I absolutely loved the book, so much so that I am reconsidering Liaisons Dangereuses and Evelina. I do not care how young Jane Austen was when she wrote this: it is brilliant, just as all her other books are. Unlike some comments (by critics) I don’t see the candidness with which Lady Susan Vernon and her friend Alicia Johnson weave their shameless plans to be improbable. I do not see why people would not openly scheme in letters and unveil their souls as they really were, to their equals—remember, ipad generation: there were no Internet or cell phones then! Last night I finally dared to try to watch the movie made of it, Love & Friendship. This time, my foreboding mood was proven correct: the movie is a sham and I could barely stand 20 minutes of the shameless eviscerating of Jane Austen’s fine story! Kate Beckinsale (who used to be gorgeous and looks bland in the movie) is simply unconvincing as the cunning, smooth-talking, ingratiating Lady Susan Vernon from the book. Her interpretation is lukewarm at most, her face as blank as a clean blackboard. Something else that struck me was the fashion; more specifically, the dresses sitting at the waist. By mid 1790’s (when, scholars believe, Miss Austen might have written this story) waists were coming up—not as high as they got by the early 1800’s. The dresses in the movie were a cross between early 1700’s and Victorian fashion, with the large hats of the 1700’s looking more like pictures hats. And the choice of a man as narrator mystifies me… Stick to the book—one, I have a feeling, I will reread soon.
    • 4/5
      An amusing short work composed of letters written by family members and friends, illuminating the machinations of determined gentry of Austen's era.
    • 3/5
      Received a copy as part of this month's Bookclub selection. The publisher has given us two light-hearted books with purple covers for Spring time reading. I read most of Austen as a teenager but am not a fan of her now. I basically find her bantering between the sexes and stories of women looking for a man to be "fluff". This story was no different in my mind. I was delighted to see this short novella written in the epistolary fashion though, as that is one of my favourite forms to read and the letters helped speed along the read while also causing Austen's usual bantering between sexes to be told in a one-sided narrative that helped me to not become vexed with the characters so. I did not like any of the characters in the book, but only felt sorry for the neglected and emotionally abused daughter Frederica. An OK story from an author I do not appreciate, as the masses do.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen wrote this when she was twenty, and it is easy to see the makings of a fine novelist. The characters lack the complexity of her later novels, and the ending is a bit abrupt, but it was fun to read.
    • 3/5
      This was fun and it reminds me that at times we try to box Jane Austen in too much. This book is so much about poking fun at the system. About turning things on their side and seeing if it changes how we view them. I found this a fast, and surprisingly funny, read.
    • 5/5
      In Lady Susan, Jane Austen has created a woman who is quite a piece of work.

    Book preview

    Lady Susan - Jane Austen

    Lady Susan

    by

    Jane Austen

    I. Lady Susan Vernon to Mr. Vernon

    II. Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    III.Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    IV. Mr. De Courcy to Mrs. Vernon

    V. Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    VI. Mrs. Vernon to Mr. De Courcy

    VII. Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    VIII. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    IX.. Mrs. Johnson to Lady S. Vernon

    X. Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    XI. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XII. Sir Reginald De Courcy to his Son

    XIII. Lady De Courcy to Mrs. Vernon

    XIV. Mr. De Courcy to Sir Reginald

    XV. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XVI. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XVII. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XVIII. From the same to the same

    XIX. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XX. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XXI. Miss Vernon to Mr De Courcy

    XXII. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XXIII. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XXIV. From the same to the same

    XXV. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XXVI. Mrs. Johnson to Lady Susan

    XXVII. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    XXVIII. Mrs. Johnson to Lady Susan

    XIX. Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    XXX. Lady Susan Vernon to Mr. De Courcy

    XXXI. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XXXII. Mrs. Johnson to Lady Susan

    XXXIII. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XXXIV. Mr. De Courcy to Lady Susan

    XXXV. Lady Susan to Mr. De Courcy

    XXXVI. Mr. De Courcy to Lady Susan

    XXXVII. Lady Susan to Mr. De Courcy

    XXXVIII. Mrs. Johnson to Lady Susan Vernon

    XXXIX. Lady Susan to Mrs. Johnson

    XL. Lady De Courcy to Mrs. Vernon

    XLI. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy

    Conclusion

    I

    Lady Susan Vernon to Mr. Vernon

    Langford, Dec.

    My dear brother — I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kind invitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with you at Churchhill, and, therefore, if quite convenient to you and Mrs. Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to be introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with. My kind friends here are most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable and cheerful dispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind; and I impatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into Your delightful retirement.

    I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an interest. I shall soon have need for all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter. The long illness of her dear father prevented my paying her that attention which duty and affection equally dictated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess to whose care I consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved on placing her at one of the best private schools in town, where I shall have an opportunity of leaving her myself in my way to you. I am determined, you see, not to be denied admittance at Churchhill. It would indeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive me.

    Your most obliged and affectionate sister, S. Vernon.

    II

    Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs. Johnson

    Langford.

    You were mistaken, my dear Alicia, in supposing me fixed at this place for the rest of the winter: it grieves me to say how greatly you were mistaken, for I have seldom spent three months more agreeably than those which have just flown away. At present, nothing goes smoothly; the females of the family are united against me. You foretold how it would be when I first came to Langford, and Mainwaring is so uncommonly pleasing that I was not without apprehensions for myself. I remember saying to myself, as I drove to the house, I like this man, pray Heaven no harm come of it! But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible: and I have been so, my dear creature; I have admitted no one’s attentions but Mainwaring’s. I have avoided all general flirtation whatever; I have distinguished no creature besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice, in order to detach him from Miss Mainwaring; but, if the world could know my motive THERE they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ought.

    Sir James did make proposals to me for Frederica; but Frederica, who was born to be the torment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present. I have more than once repented that I did not marry him myself; and were he but one degree less contemptibly weak I certainly should: but I must own myself rather romantic in that respect, and that riches only will not satisfy me. The event of all this is very provoking: Sir James is gone, Maria highly incensed, and Mrs. Mainwaring insupportably jealous; so jealous, in short, and so enraged against me, that, in the fury of her temper, I should not be surprized at her appealing to her guardian, if she had the liberty of addressing him: but there your husband stands my friend; and the kindest, most amiable action of his life was his throwing her off for ever on her marriage. Keep up his resentment, therefore, I charge you. We are now in a sad state; no house was ever more altered; the whole party are at war, and Mainwaring scarcely dares speak to me. It is time for me to be gone; I have therefore determined on leaving them, and shall spend, I hope, a comfortable day with you in town within this week. If I am as little in favour with Mr. Johnson as ever, you must come to me at 10 Wigmore street; but I hope this may not be the case, for as Mr. Johnson, with all his faults, is a man to whom that great word respectable is always given, and I am known to be so intimate with his wife, his slighting me has an awkward look.

    I take London in my way to that insupportable spot, a country village; for I am really going to Churchhill. Forgive me, my dear friend, it is my last resource. Were there another place

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