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!

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.

Love the text but not the readers

The story is great, but these readers don’t quite capture the language well. The intonations seem off. The voice of Lady Susan sounds much older than the character’s age.

Worth a listen

Cute story, not as engaging as Austen’s better loved books, but everyone should read Lady Susan.

Who but Jane Austin!

There were many many restrictions on women in general and Jane Austen in particular. It is an era where women had little power of choice. Reading this book will give you a good sense of what it was like. It is also written with a simplicity that makes her an easy read. This is not my favorite Austen book but it well deserves to be read.

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.

A painful experience for this Austenophile. 💔 😪

I hate to give bad reviews based on only a token attempt to experience a work. So, I forced myself to listen to this in its entirety; something I will never be coerced into again.

The reading is stiff and stilted, with little attempt to embrace the characters or act the part. the participants don't even seem to try story- telling. The parts are terribly miscast, with Lady Susan sounding more akin to Lady Catherine DeBurgh, rather than Mary Crawford. They gave the irresistible seductress the voice of A 70- year- old woman. Reginald DeCourcy is equally miscast.

I could go on and on, but I won't. Bottom line: after listening to many adaptations and readings of Miss Austin's work on Audible, I had great expectations of this little treat. Unfortunately, I bit into what I thought was a truffle, but got a moth ball instead. Blech! Time to pull out the mouth wash.

very enjoyable listen

this is the first time I have listened to Lady Susan. the cast did a very nice job w the read. it was very entertaining.