Lady Susan

Lady Susan is a short epistolary novel by Jane Austen, possibly written in 1794 but not published until 1871. This early complete work, which the author never submitted for publication, describes the schemes of the title character. It is about the horrible flirt Lady Susan Vernon, a widow in her thirties who has an affair with a married man. After her husband’s death she stays with her brother and his family and soon enchants the handsome, friendly but naïve and idealistic Reginald de Courcy, who is her brother-in-law. The characters in Lady Susan experience and act on various kinds of love, both romantic and familial. Characters’ relationships with one another are what drive the story, which centres around Lady Susan’s potential engagement to Reginald De Courcy and her schemes involving her daughter, Frederica.