
Lady Susan
by Jane Austen
'Lady Susan' Summary
Lady Susan Vernon, a beautiful and charming recent widow, visits her brother- and sister-in-law, Charles and Catherine Vernon, with little advance notice at Churchill, their country residence. Catherine is far from pleased, as Lady Susan had tried to prevent her marriage to Charles and her unwanted guest has been described to her as "the most accomplished coquette in England". Among Lady Susan's conquests is the married Mr. Manwaring.
Catherine's brother Reginald arrives a week later, and despite Catherine's strong warnings about Lady Susan's character, soon falls under her spell. Lady Susan toys with the younger man's affections for her own amusement and later because she perceives it makes her sister-in-law uneasy. Her confidante, Mrs. Johnson, to whom she writes frequently, recommends she marry the very eligible Reginald, but Lady Susan considers him to be greatly inferior to Manwaring.
Frederica, Lady Susan's 16-year-old daughter, tries to run away from school when she learns of her mother's plan to marry her off to a wealthy but insipid young man she loathes. She also becomes a guest at Churchill. Catherine comes to like her—her character is totally unlike her mother's—and as time goes by, detects Frederica's growing attachment to the oblivious Reginald.
Later, Sir James Martin, Frederica's unwanted suitor, shows up uninvited, much to her distress and her mother's vexation. When Frederica begs Reginald for support out of desperation (having been forbidden by Lady Susan to turn to Charles and Catherine), this causes a temporary breach between Reginald and Lady Susan, but the latter soon repairs the rupture.
Lady Susan decides to return to London and marry her daughter off to Sir James. Reginald follows, still bewitched by her charms and intent on marrying her, but he encounters Mrs. Manwaring at the home of Mr. Johnson and finally learns Lady Susan's true character. Lady Susan ends up marrying Sir James herself, and allows Frederica to reside with Charles and Catherine at Churchill, where Reginald De Courcy "could be talked, flattered, and finessed into an affection for her."
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1871Authors

Jane Austen
England
Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often...
Books by Jane AustenDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
Begun when she was just eleven years old, Love and Friendship is one of Jane Austen's stories that very few readers may have encountered before. Aust...

pasiones del joven Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Las pasiones del joven Werther es una novela epistolar que narra la historia de Werther, un joven artista profundamente sensible que se enamora de Cha...

Dangerous Connections (Les liaisons dangereuses) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Dangerous Connections (Les Liaisons dangereuses) is a captivating epistolary novel that unveils the intricate web of deceit and seduction within the F...

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White is Wilkie Collins's fifth published novel, written in 1859. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels and is widely reg...

Aristocrats by Gertrude Atherton
Set in the late 19th century, *Aristocrats* follows the journey of Lady Helen Pole, an English aristocrat, as she travels to the remote and rugged wil...

History of Emily Montague Vol I by Frances Moore Brooke
Set against the backdrop of the newly British Quebec, Frances Moore Brooke's 'History of Emily Montague' is an epistolary novel that explores the comp...

Historie van mejuffrouw Sara Burgerhart by Aagje Deken
Sara Burgerhart is een jong meisje dat correspondeert met haar vriendinnen, aanbidders en familie. Die mensen schrijven elkaar ook allemaal. Het boek...

Dangerous relationships or Les liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos
Les Liaisons dangereuses is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 17...

Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Poor Folk sometimes translated as Poor People, is the first novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, written over the span of nine months between 1844 and 1845. Do...

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel written by English author Anne Brontë. It was first published in 1848 under the pseudonym Ac...
Reviews for Lady Susan
No reviews posted or approved, yet...