Lady Susan, Jane Austen
Lady Susan, Jane Austen
79 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Lady Susan

Author: Jane Austen

Narrator: Charles Bentley

Unabridged: 2 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/04/2017


Synopsis

Lady Susan, a recent widow, with few means of financial support, utilizes her other assets to great effect; her intelligence, beauty, and ability to seduce a man, either single or married. Manipulating everyone she comes into contact with, she schemes to her own advantage. Or does she?
Listen to Charles Bentley narrate this classic and yet largely undiscovered novel written by the extraordinarily talented, Jane Austen.
This particular Epistolary, is made all the more astounding when research reveals that Jane was only 18 or 19 years old when she crafted this 18th-century femme fatale, whose tale of wickedness is woven into the fabric of British high society.
For those that know Jane Austen well, and those yet to discover how fabulous and insightful her writing truly is, are in for a real treat.
Follow the 41 Letters,written between the various parties, enjoy the unfolding plot, the schemes and intrigue around Lady Susan’s outrageous manipulations.

About Jane Austen

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, to the Reverend George Austen and his wife, Cassandra Leigh Austen, in the village of Steventon in Hampshire, England. Though her mother was from a family of gentry, Jane's father was not well off, and the large family had to take in school boarders to make ends meet. The second youngest of the Austens' eight children, Jane was very close to her elder, and only, sister, Cassandra, and neither sister ever married. Both girls were educated at home, as many were at that time.

From a young age Jane wrote satires and read them aloud to her appreciative family. Though she completed the manuscripts of two full-length novels while living at Steventon, these were not published. Later, these novels were revised into the form under which they were published, as Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, respectively.

In 1801, George Austen retired from the clergy, and Jane, Cassandra, and their parents took up residence in Bath, a fashionable town Jane liked far less than her native village. Jane seems to have written little during this period. When Mr. Austen died in 1805, the three women, Mrs. Austen and her daughters, moved first to Southampton and then, partly subsidized by Jane's brothers, occupied a house in Chawton, a village not unlike Jane's first home. There she began to work on writing and pursued publishing once more, leading to the anonymous publication of Sense and Sensibility in 1811 and Pride and Prejudice in 1813, to modestly good reviews.

Known for her cheerful, modest, and witty character, Jane Austen had a busy family and social life but very little direct romantic experience. Her last years were quiet and devoted to family, friends, and writing her final novels. In 1817 she had to interrupt work on her last and unfinished novel, Sanditon, because she fell ill. She died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, where she had been taken for medical treatment. After her death, her novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published, together with a biographical notice, due to the efforts of her brother Henry. Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ilse on April 19, 2018

Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere. O Lady Susan Vernon, what a juicy jewel of a villainous character you are, a black diamond, repelling and fascinating at the same time, your wicked charm inspiring possibly an uncanny form of envy more than simple revulsion. Deceiving everyone with yo......more

Goodreads review by Tharindu on March 06, 2022

"This eclaircissement is rather provoking." Well...I guess only Austen could write something like this and getaway with a good rating. But it's not bad by any means. It seems, the author has had enough of principled characters, and decided to create kind of a super-villain with this one. And had......more

Goodreads review by Henry on March 27, 2025

Lady Susan Vernon 35, but looks much younger is exceedingly pretty , gentle with great manners , well spoken, intelligent the perfect woman until you know her... newly widowed from a kind man Mr. Vernon, ( no first name is given) he had foolishly let her spend all his money... a daughter 16, Frederi......more

Goodreads review by Emily on August 02, 2018

I read the book then watch the movie for BookTubeAThon 2018 and I have to say... they have some differences and the movie might be a bit better. It's so silly and funny and can't recommend it enough!......more

Goodreads review by Anne on July 27, 2024

I had to look up what an epistolary novel was. Embarrassing, I know. Swear to god, my first thought was, isn't that what they did to me when kid #1 was born? Then, no. wait. that was an episiotomy. Bless. Alright, since I know I can't possibly be the only person in the world who didn't know the defini......more