Can a modern-day writer help Lady Vernon’s nephew vindicate Jane Austen’s most seductive and cunning antiheroine?

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Source: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

How do you attempt to unravel the literary genius of Jane Austen and examine the trajectory of one of literature’s greatest minds? You study her juvenilia to examine her earliest works, which brings you some new and rather alarming theories about her life as a young, and “sheltered” maiden.

If you’re a Jane Austen fan, and really, who isn’t, you read stories such as “Lady Susan” to immerse yourself within the seedlings of her young literary germinations, and find yourself scratching your head with some disbelief that a gentlewoman who lived over 200 years ago, who hadn’t yet reached her majority, had such a deep and well-ingrained sense about the more “intimate” machinations that took place between men and women during her time. Between the forty-one letters that make up Austen’s early novella, you will find an astute, observant, and sarcastic mind who took it upon herself to stitch upon those bits of ivory lace a story about the scandalous antiheroine, Lady Susan Vernon.

Last month, I had the pleasure of reviewing Whit Stillman’s movie, “Love & Friendship” where he artfully reimagined Lady Susan’s motives and brought to life a story that offers viewers an adaptation that offers the irony and tongue-in-cheek humor that I believe Austen sought to deliver through her development of Lady Susan Vernon.

In his book, “Love and Friendship”, which the movie is based on and follows closely in its tone and storyline, Mr. Stillman has found in his story’s narrator a most ardent and prolific defender of this lady in Lady Susan Vernon’s nephew, Rufus Martin-Colonna De Cesari- Rocca. Rufus asserts his unwavering desire to reframe and refute Miss Austen’s assertions, who he “affectionately” refers to as the spinster Authoress. From his earliest recollections to his discussions with other “reputable” witnesses, such as Mrs. Alicia Johnson, one of Lady Susan’s closest confidantes, Rufus offers his views along with his own “research” throughout his commentary in the story. He also inserts satirical footnotes that vary in detail throughout “Love & Friendship” and in the second part of the book, which contains Austen’s forty-one letters, his off-the-cuff reactions to the first fifteen of the forty-one letters.

This book provides an amusing diversion for readers who want to learn how Rufus sketches a somewhat compelling argument in favor of the behaviors and motives of Lady Susan. There are numerous plays on language and several moments of dry, witty humor that will keep readers happily immersed in the cleverly crafted foibles and follies of the characters within this variation. I truly appreciated that Whit Stillman took it upon himself to flesh out Lady Susan’s story, not only through his masterful movie adaptation but also through this variation of “Lady Susan.” It absolutely inspired this Janeite to give Austen’s novella and Whit Stillman’s own works based on her story, the dearest and loveliest attentions that they deserve!

With this said, I would recommend that a person who hasn’t read any of these books before, read “Lady Susan” first, and then read Whit Stillman’s book, “Love & Friendship” from front to back, in order to enjoy the original work first so that the references and humor inserted throughout Mr. Stillman’s book can be appreciated through having a familiarity of Austen’s original story. Pushing aside Austen’s epistolary structure, Stillman tells his story through a narrative structure, which helps him fill in some of the gaps in the story for readers, particularly in places within the story’s dialogues, in the development of certain characters, and also by providing more details about specific events from the story, thus bringing to the reader a story that is a bit easier to follow and perhaps, easier to visualize than Austen’s “Lady Susan.” I believe Austen came to understand these limitations herself regarding the epistolary text structure, which is probably why her six major novels were written as narrative stories instead.

The book also contains two lists, one titled Principal Personages, the other, Locales, along with a diagram titled Genealogical Table, which are handy references for the reader.