2 h 36 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the most charming person in the room has no conscience at all?
Lady Susan Vernon needs a comfortable marriage for herself and a rich husband for her daughter. Beautiful, witty, and trailed by scandal, she asks her brother-in-law Charles Vernon for shelter at Churchill. He welcomes her kindly. His wife, Catherine, sees a guest whose charm may threaten the whole family.
In Jane Austen’s short novel, letters reveal what polite conversation conceals. Lady Susan writes openly to her confidante Alicia Johnson, while her relatives exchange their fears. Her daughter Frederica longs for kindness and freedom. Catherine’s brother, Reginald De Courcy, arrives determined to dislike Lady Susan—but she knows how to use words as weapons.
What you’ll discover
- Charm without conscience Meet a widow whose wit makes her fascinating even as her plans inspire distrust.
- Letters that refuse to agree Read competing accounts and weigh the distance between Lady Susan’s claims and her family’s fears.
- A daughter under pressure Follow Frederica’s longing for kindness as her mother pursues a wealthy match for her.
- Power behind polite manners Explore how a woman without a fortune turns charm into a means of control.
- Austen at her sharpest Enjoy a pointed comedy of manners where talk carries both pleasure and danger.
Who will love it
For readers who love Austen's sharp wit, clever villains who speak for themselves, and comedies of manners where private letters reveal what public charm conceals.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A charming widow leaves in disgrace
- Churchill welcomes her with suspicion
- A daughter becomes a pawn
- Reginald De Courcy comes to judge her
- What the story is really about
- How the letters build the story
Who’s who
- Lady Susan VernonA beautiful, witty widow who lives on charm and cunning, and wants a comfortable marriage for herself and a rich husband for her daughter.
- Frederica VernonLady Susan's shy, unhappy young daughter, who fears her mother's plans for her and wants only some kindness and freedom.
- Catherine VernonLady Susan's sister-in-law, a sensible and warm mistress of Churchill who distrusts her guest and tries to protect her family.
- Charles VernonCatherine's good-natured husband, who is inclined to think well of his relation and is easily moved by her manner.
- Reginald De CourcyCatherine's young brother, who comes to Churchill sure that he will not be fooled by Lady Susan's reputation.
- Alicia JohnsonLady Susan's confidante in London, who admires her friend and helps her plans while hiding them from her disapproving husband.
- Sir James MartinA rich and rather foolish young man whom Lady Susan has chosen as a husband for her daughter.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Lady Susan
by Jane Austen · 1871
A charming widow seeks husbands for herself and her daughter, while her hosts trade letters of warning.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A charming widow leaves in disgrace
The story opens with a letter from Lady Susan to her brother-in-law, Charles Vernon. She asks to stay at his home, Churchill, and she writes as a gentle woman wounded by cruel gossip. She says she wants only quiet and the company of family. The tone is so sweet that the reader almost believes her.
Then we read her letters to Alicia Johnson, her close friend in London, and the picture changes. Lady Susan has been staying at Langford with the Manwaring family. While there, she has flirted with Mr Manwaring, who is married, and she has also won the attention of a young man who was courting Miss Manwaring. The household has become a battlefield, and she says the jealousy and hostility there make it impossible for her to stay. She tells all this to Alicia with amusement, as though it were a game she has played well.
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What is Lady Susan about?
It follows a clever, charming widow who moves between country houses looking for a husband for herself and another for her daughter. The story is told in letters between her, her friend Alicia, and the relatives who distrust her.
When did Jane Austen write Lady Susan?
Austen is thought to have written it in the 1790s, when she was young. It was not published in her lifetime and first appeared in print in 1871, many years after her death in 1817.
Why is Lady Susan written as letters?
Austen chose the epistolary form, popular in the eighteenth century, so that each character could speak in her own voice. It lets us compare what Lady Susan says in public with what she writes privately.
The author
Jane Austen
1775–1817 · English novelist
Jane Austen was an English novelist born in Steventon, Hampshire, in 1775. She lived in Bath, Southampton and Chawton, and died in Winchester in 1817. Her novels included Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion appeared after her death.
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