Review: Lady Susan by Jane Austen

Lady Susan by Jane Austen
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

A beautiful middle-aged recent widow is on the prowl for a young man for herself and one to take her despised daughter off her hands. Lady Susan is the last complete work of Jane Austen published, over 50 years after her death, in which the titular character is annoyance to her family.

Lady Susan Vernon, a beautiful and charming recent widow, visits her brother- and sister-in-law, Charles and Catherine Vernon, with little advance notice at Churchill, their country residence. Catherine is far from pleased, as Lady Susan had tried to prevent her marriage to Charles and her unwanted guest has been described to her as “the most accomplished coquette in England”. Among Lady Susan's conquests is the married Mr. Manwaring. Catherine's brother Reginald arrives a week later, and despite Catherine's strong warnings about Lady Susan's character, soon falls under her spell. Lady Susan toys with the younger man's affections for her own amusement and later because she perceives it makes her sister-in-law uneasy. Her confidante, Mrs. Johnson, to whom she writes frequently, recommends she marry the very eligible Reginald, but Lady Susan considers him to be greatly inferior to Manwaring. Frederica, Lady Susan's 16-year-old daughter, tries to run away from school when she learns of her mother's plan to marry her off to a wealthy but insipid young man she loathes. She also becomes a guest at Churchill. Catherine comes to like her—her character is totally unlike her mother's—and as time goes by, detects Frederica's growing attachment to the oblivious Reginald. Later, Sir James Martin, Frederica's unwanted suitor, shows up uninvited, much to her distress and her mother's vexation. When Frederica begs Reginald for support out of desperation (having been forbidden by Lady Susan to turn to Charles and Catherine), this causes a temporary breach between Reginald and Lady Susan, but the latter soon repairs the rupture. Lady Susan decides to return to London and marry her daughter off to Sir James. Reginald follows, still bewitched by her charms and intent on marrying her, but he encounters Mrs. Manwaring at the home of Mr. Johnson and finally learns Lady Susan's true character. Lady Susan ends up marrying Sir James herself, and allows Frederica to reside with Charles and Catherine at Churchill, where Reginald De Courcy “could be talked, flattered, and finessed into an affection for her.”

This novella is essentially the titular character playing havoc with her in-laws and their familial relations while attempting to pawn her daughter off to the richest man that will have her while looking to score an even richer man whether he is currently married or not. If this had been a full-length novel with Susan Vernon as the lead character, she would have been one of the most hated characters in the English language who is not evil incarnate. As for the other notable characters, Mrs. Vernon and Frederica were written as morale opposites to Lady Susan and came off well-written, meanwhile Reginald comes off as a fool and is played like one by Susan through much of the story.

Lady Susan was completed by Jane Austen 17 years before her more famous works were published and itself published over 50 years after her death. It’s short length is one of it’s best features as the titular character would not be someone a reader would want to follow for an entire novel.