Lady Susan facts for kids

Lady Susan is a short novel written by Jane Austen when she was about 20 years old. It's an "epistolary" novel, which means the story is told entirely through letters written by the characters. The book is about a clever but tricky widow named Lady Susan. She loves to flirt and doesn't care much about other people's feelings. Jane Austen wrote this book around the same time she was working on an early version of her famous novel, Sense and Sensibility. That early version was also written as letters, just like Lady Susan.

Storytelling Through Letters

The idea of telling a story using only letters was very popular in the 1700s. However, this style wasn't the best fit for Jane Austen's writing talents. Most of her well-known novels are told by a narrator, not just through letters.

Jane Austen admired writers like Samuel Richardson, whose books, such as Pamela (novel) and Clarissa (novel), were written entirely in letters. She also liked the style of Frances Burney. But for Jane Austen, writing stories this way didn't feel natural.

At the end of Lady Susan, Jane Austen herself joked about the letter-writing style. She wrote that the characters had to meet in person, and others had to separate. This meant they couldn't keep writing letters, "to the great detriment of the Post Office!"

Letter Writing in the 1700s

In Jane Austen's time, it was common for young women to spend time each day writing letters. Because of this, a story told through letters felt very real to readers back then. It's much more realistic than it would be today.

Writers like Frances Burney wrote letters that were smart and full of interesting information. Her diaries and letters were even published later because they were so good. The letters of William Cowper are also famous. However, Jane Austen's own letters were usually private. They were about family things, like sick babies, dance partners, food, and plants.

Images for kids

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  Lady Susan Manuscript 103

See also

In Spanish: Lady Susan para niños