Lady Susan

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Susan McCarthy, Laurellee Westaway, Melissa Leventon, David Thorn, Bobbie Frohman

Written in the then fashionable style form of letters between the characters in the book, Jane Austen tells the story of the beautiful widow Lady Susan. Lady Susan has an eye toward re-marrying well, and marrying off her teenage daughter. To achieve her objectives, she spins a tale of Victorian humor and manipulation. In the end, she outsmarts even herself.

Jane Austen's earliest known serious work, Lady Susan 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. She 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. 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, whom neither can abide. Told through a series of letters between the characters, the work concludes abruptly with the comment: "this correspondence…could not, to the great detriment of the Post Office revenue, be continued any longer."

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was born in Steventon, England, and later moved to Bath. She began to write early for her own and her family's amusement. Her novels, set in her own English countryside, depict the daily lives of provincial middle-class families with wry observation, a delicate irony, and a good-humored wit. She is now considered by many scholars to be the first great woman novelist.

Public Domain (P)2003 Alcazar AudioWorks

Fun and Engaging Early Austen Georgian Romp

Not my first engagement with Jane Austen's Lady Susan, but it was my first time experiencing it in audio format. And what a delightful surprise to discover that this audio was a cast of narrators to take the major voices of the story.

I found the humor stood out even more and enjoyed encountering those witty lines that draw my appreciation the most. Of particular worthiness are Lady Susan to her friend agasp when anyone catches her out in her machinations and her determination to make them pay because the individual put her out by forcing her to be more energetic in her selfish interests.

The performance sparkled in some ways, but in others I was distracted by the narrators acting the parts in voices that jangled against what I was hearing in my mind for the characters.

All in all, I was well-pleased with this edition and experience and would recommend the new found joy of experiencing Austen's fantastic works in audio.

Fun little story, performance lacking.

Love this early Austen work. I also liked having different actors for the characters. But the performances weren't up to par.

decent comedy

Decent comedy and story by Austen and great characters. Some of the narrators were okay but there were two that were old sounding and just awful. They sounded like 1000 years old and not British. And a bit over acted too.

Great short fun bit of Austen

This was read well. A fun read and short! Enjoyed a very different version of Jane Austen.

Beware of the Introduction

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This early work by Jane Austen is not to be missed by her fans though it might be overlooked since it typically is not found on lists of her novels.The plot being unfolded in correspondence between the main characters, though a technique common at the time the novel was written, is an interesting literary device for the modern reader.This audio version is notable because it employs a cast of narrators that provide distinctive voices for the authors of each letter.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately, the introduction is a spoiler since it reveals aspects of the character of the protagonist and plot elements that would be better left to the reader to discover. I suggest listeners fast forward 1 minute and 25 seconds into the audio book to pick up the narrative with the first letter.