Review: Lady Susan (novel)

It's hard to believe this is a Jane Austen novel. It has incredibly little in common with her later works.

Trying to find a cover to put here was a headache. Almost all the covers also included The Watsons and Sanditon, or else they were about the film adaptation instead of the book.

Lady Susan was one of Jane Austen's earliest works, but was only published in 1871. It's the only epistolary novel she wrote. It's been adapted into a 2016 film (titled Love and Friendship -- confusingly the name of a completely different Austen book) and several stage versions, as well as being the inspiration for a few books.

From the beginning it's clear this isn't the sort of story you think of when you hear the name "Jane Austen". The title character is, to put it bluntly, a scumbag. She's a callous, conniving snake who in the course of the novel is briefly engaged to one man, ends up marrying a different one, and the whole time is having an affair with yet another man -- a married man, in this case. The plot revolves around her attempts to marry both herself and her daughter to rich men, while her intended victim's sister tries to thwart her plans.

I read the entire novel in less than an hour. (Not as impressive as it sounds; it's a very short novel. Less than fifty pages in my edition.) The whole time I wanted two things: to see Lady Susan's true nature be revealed to everyone, and to see her poor, abused daughter finally get away from her. Both of those things happen... in a way. Frederica does eventually escape her loathsome mother, but sadly Lady Susan escapes more or less unscathed. Reginald has his eyes opened in time to avoid marrying her. Sir James isn't so lucky.

Honestly, of all the characters in the book I feel sorriest for Mrs. Manwaring and Sir James. Mrs. Manwaring discovers that her husband has betrayed her with Lady Susan, and her friend's wife is Lady Susan's best friend/partner-in-crime. Sir James is undeniably an idiot, but he didn't deserve being stuck with Lady Susan as a wife.

If you read this book expecting a typical Jane Austen story, you're in for a surprise. But it's still a thoroughly entertaining story, and Lady Susan herself is one of the best villains Miss Austen ever wrote.

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 7/10.