Jane Austen is usually the queen of the slow burn, the "happily ever after," and the polite drawing-room misunderstanding. But Jane Austen Lady Susan is a total curveball. It’s nasty. It’s hilarious. Honestly, it’s basically the Mean Girls of the 1790s, except with better stationery and higher stakes. If you think you know Austen because you’ve seen Pride and Prejudice five times, you’re in for a shock.
Lady Susan Vernon is not Elizabeth Bennet. She isn't even Emma Woodhouse. She is a beautiful, brilliant, and completely "vicious" widow who spends her time manipulating every single person in her orbit just to see if she can. She’s broke, she’s scandalous, and she’s probably the most fun character Austen ever put to paper.
Most people skip this one because it’s an epistolary novel—meaning it’s told entirely through letters. That sounds like a chore, right? It isn’t. Reading these letters feels like scrolling through a group chat where your most chaotic friend is "spilling the tea" about her latest drama.
The Lady Susan Everyone Gets Wrong
People tend to lump this in with Austen's "juvenilia"—the stuff she wrote when she was a kid just messing around. That’s a mistake. While she wrote the draft around 1794 (she was roughly 18 or 19), it’s a remarkably polished piece of work. It wasn't actually published until 1871, long after she died. Her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, included it in the second edition of his Memoir of Jane Austen.
The common misconception is that Lady Susan is a "villain" in a boring, mustache-twirling way. She isn’t. She’s a survivor.
In the late 18th century, a widow with no money and a bad reputation had exactly zero options. Susan uses her only weapons: her intellect and her "countenance." She is a master of gaslighting. She manages to convince grown men that they didn't see what they definitely saw. It's impressive. It's also terrifying.
Why the Letter Format Actually Works
The epistolary style allows Austen to show us the gap between what Lady Susan says and what she actually thinks.
One minute, she's writing a "sweet" letter to her sister-in-law, Catherine Vernon, pretending to be a grieving widow who just wants to bond with her family. The next minute, she’s writing to her BFF, Alicia Johnson, saying how much she hates everyone at Churchill (the family estate) and how she’s planning to marry off her daughter to a "rattle" (an idiot) just to get her out of the way.
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It’s the ultimate "two-faced" performance.
The Plot: A Mess of Marriages and Manipulation
The story kicks off when Lady Susan is forced to leave Langford because she’s been "a little too friendly" with a married man named Mr. Manwaring. She retreats to Churchill, the home of her brother-in-law, Charles Vernon.
Her goals are simple:
- Find a rich husband for her daughter, Frederica, even though Frederica hates the guy.
- Find a rich husband for herself.
- Make everyone love her, despite her being a nightmare.
Enter Reginald De Courcy. He’s Catherine Vernon’s brother, and he arrives at Churchill specifically because he’s heard how "wicked" Lady Susan is. He wants to see the circus. Within a few weeks, Susan has him so twisted around her finger that he’s defending her honor against his own family. It is a masterclass in psychological warfare.
Poor Frederica, the daughter, is the only one who sees through it, but she’s too shy to speak up. When she finally tries to run away from the school her mother shoved her into, Susan treats it like a minor inconvenience rather than a motherly crisis.
Is Lady Susan Actually a "Feminist" Icon?
This is where scholars like Claire Tomalin and Janet Todd get into the weeds.
Some argue that Lady Susan is a proto-feminist hero. She refuses to play by the rules of a society that wants to park her in a corner and let her wither away. She owns her sexuality. She uses her brain. She refuses to be "submissive."
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On the other hand, she’s objectively a terrible mother. She treats Frederica like a piece of furniture that’s in the wrong spot. She’s also incredibly cruel to other women.
Maybe the reason Jane Austen Lady Susan feels so modern is that Susan doesn't care about being "likable." In a world of "strong female leads" who are still secretly perfect, Lady Susan is a refreshing disaster. She’s selfish. She’s vain. She’s great.
The Whit Stillman Effect
If you want to see this story come to life, you have to watch Love & Friendship (2016), directed by Whit Stillman. Kate Beckinsale plays Susan, and it is perfect casting. Stillman actually changed the title to Love & Friendship (which is the name of another Austen juvenile work) because he thought it sounded more "Austen-y," but the movie is 100% Lady Susan.
Watching Beckinsale deliver lines with a straight face while ruining people's lives is the best way to understand the tone Austen was going for. It’s a comedy. A dark, cynical, sharp-edged comedy.
What This Book Tells Us About the "Real" Jane Austen
We often imagine Jane as this quiet, tea-drinking auntie who lived in a cottage and wrote about balls. Lady Susan proves she had a "wicked" sense of humor. She understood the power dynamics of sex and money long before she wrote Emma.
Actually, think about it.
Susan is like an R-rated version of Emma Woodhouse. Both women are bored. Both women like to manage other people's lives. But where Emma eventually learns her lesson and becomes a "better person," Susan just keeps going. She doesn't have a "redemption arc." She doesn't realize the error of her ways.
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She just moves on to the next target.
Why You Should Read It Right Now
Honestly? It's short. You can finish it in an afternoon.
Because it’s in the public domain, you can find it for free online or as a cheap ebook. It’s the perfect palate cleanser if you’re tired of "saccharine" historical fiction.
Wait, what about the ending?
Austen eventually gets tired of the letters and just steps in as the narrator to wrap things up. It’s one of the funniest endings in literature. She basically says, "Okay, this letter-writing is taking too long, let me just tell you what happened." It’s a meta-moment that shows Austen was already experimenting with form and breaking the fourth wall before it was cool.
Actionable Insights for the Aspiring Austen Reader
If you're ready to tackle Lady Susan, don't go in expecting Sense and Sensibility. Here is how to actually enjoy it:
- Read the letters aloud. The "voice" of each character is distinct. Susan's letters are fast-paced and witty; Catherine Vernon's letters are anxious and observant.
- Track the money. Like all Austen books, the plot is driven by "per annum" figures. Lady Susan is chasing a lifestyle she can't afford.
- Don't look for a hero. You won't find one. Even the "good" characters are a bit judgmental or easily fooled. Just enjoy the chaos.
- Compare it to her later work. Look for the seeds of characters like Mary Crawford (Mansfield Park) or Mrs. Churchill. You’ll see that Austen never really lost her interest in "dangerous" women; she just learned how to hide them better in her later novels.
The "real" Jane Austen Lady Susan isn't a dusty classic. It’s a sharp, cynical look at what happens when a brilliant woman is trapped in a boring world. It’s mean, it’s fast, and it’s arguably the most "honest" thing Austen ever wrote about the social meat-grinder of the 18th century.
Grab a copy. It’s better than a soap opera.