Lady Susan and Love & Friendship

Lady Susan was written in 1795 but was never published in Jane Austen’s lifetime. Through letters written to various correspondents, Lady Susan Vernon discloses her many attempts to find and capture suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter. Love and Friendship is another epistolary novel written in 1790 for the amusement of Austen’s family as a parody of contemporary romance novels. Like Lady Susan, it went unpublished in Austen’s lifetime. This collection of early works also includes another short novelette, Lesley Castle, a brief, amusing history of England written by “a Partial, Prejudiced, and Ignorant Historian,” and other miscellaneous writings—a feast for fans of one of England’s greatest writers.