"Lady Susan," by Jane Austen

Readers of this blog know how much I love and admire Jane Austen's fiction. The Austen canon consists, as all Austen followers know, of six glorious complete novels. There are also two unfinished novels, "Sanditon" and the "Watsons," as well as some juvenalia. Less known and lauded is a very early epistolary novel that was not published until long after Austen's death, "Lady Susan." I had read this short book before, but not for a long time; I just finished listening to it on CD. Although it does not stand up to The Six, it is enjoyable to read (or hear) and demonstrates a good portion of the wit and perceptiveness of Austen's more developed work. The novel features a widow who is not afraid to have both flirtations and affairs; somehow, despite her shaky reputation, she manages to be accepted (reluctantly) by her relatives and friends. She is very manipulative, a liar, a two-timer, a distinctly unmaternal mother to her teenaged daughter (whom she tries to force to marry a unappealing man), smart, funny, selfish, and a little bit evil. She is the villain we are meant to root against, yes, but Austen slyly makes us pull for her a bit as well, despite ourselves. I decry her willingness to use whoever can be useful to her, and to step on anyone who gets in her way, yet there is something appealing about a woman at that time in history (late 18th century) who -- unlike most women of the era -- knew what she wanted and went for it, and who was so in control of her own life and relationships.