Susan, A Jane Austen Prequel

by Alice McVeigh

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org

*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Pub Date Jun 30 2021 | Archive Date Jul 24 2021

BooksGoSocial

General Fiction (Adult) | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction

Talking about this book? Use #SusanAJaneAustenPrequel #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!

Description

Susan is a Jane Austen Prequel (or Pride and Prejudice Variation) brilliantly capturing Austen's own Lady Susan as a young girl.

As the BookLife review put it for Publishers Weekly: ""McVeigh's prose and plotting are pitch-perfect. Emma mingles with Pride and Prejudice in a delightful confrontation between the two books' worlds... This Austen-inspired novel echoes the master herself.""

Familiar characters abound - Frank Churchill, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy himself - but Susan - mischievous and manipulative - is the star. This is Austen that even Austen might have loved, with a touch of Georgette Heyer in the romantic sections. Fans of Bridgerton will also relish this classic regency romance, the first in a six-book series.

Sixteen-year-old Susan Smithson - pretty but poor, clever but capricious - has just been expelled from a school for young ladies in London.

At the mansion of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she attracts a raffish young nobleman. But, at the first hint of scandal, her guardian dispatches her to her uncle Collins' rectory in Kent, where her sensible cousin Alicia lives and ""where nothing ever happens.""

Here Susan mischievously inspires the local squire to put on a play, with consequences no one could possibly have foreseen. What with the unexpected arrival of Frank Churchill, Alicia's falling in love and a tumultuous elopement, rural Kent will surely never seem safe again...

Susan is a Jane Austen Prequel (or Pride and Prejudice Variation) brilliantly capturing Austen's own Lady Susan as a young girl.

As the BookLife review put it for Publishers Weekly: ""McVeigh's prose...

Advance Praise

This Austen-inspired novel echoes the master herself. McVeigh’s prose and plotting are pitch-perfect, and many readers will forget they’re reading a contemporary novelist… Emma mingles with Pride and Prejudice in a delightful confrontation between the two books' worlds… While this title will be catnip to dedicated Austen fans, even new initiates into her work will be captivated by this lively tale.

(Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize review, 10 stars out of 10)

Fans of Jane Austen will be easily enraptured by Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel by Alice McVeigh. Honoring the original voice of characters more than two centuries old and capturing the subtle tension and emotional complexity of youthful independence, this stylistic gem is an ambitious and memorable homage… McVeigh has set a strong foundation for a stunning six-book series and has the writing chops to deliver a hugely challenging undertaking, which will thrill fans of Jane Austen, and historical fiction fans in general. (Senior editor, Self-Publishing Review)

The writing style is witty, fun and has all the hallmarks of an Austen novel. It will appeal to those who seek a modern continuation of British gentry romance and intrigue. (RECOMMENDED by the US Review of books)

Alice McVeigh writes with flair and finesse. The pitch between description and speech is perfect, as is the pacing. So well does she set the mood and characters that you could believe you were reading an unpublished Jane Austen novel!... Susan is filled with delightful period ambiance, humor and wit.

(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by the Chick Lit Café)

“I found the characters colorful and thoroughly entertaining, the dialogue witty and laced with humor… Alice McVeigh writes with a flow and eloquence that makes the narrative as smooth as melted butter, and she perfectly captures the era.

(editorial review for Readers’ Favorite.com)