Reading: Lady Susan

Prompted by seeing the film last week, I thought maybe it was time I actually read some of Austen's juvenilia and unfinished works. Lady Susan is a short novel and is told entirely in epistolary format; the film appears to have been a pretty faithful rendering, though with a couple of additional minor characters and some extra scenes to add more background. The plot wasn't altered, though, and nor was Lady Susan's wonderfully self-centred and manipulative character which is the most memorable and enjoyable element of both; yes, she's awful, but you can't help a sneaking admiration for her sheer brazen nerve. As a book, it's fairly slight, but enjoyable none the less, and the characterisation is really impressive for a teenage writer.