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Lady Susan cover art

Lady Susan

By: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Laurelle Westaway, David Thorn, Susan McCarthy
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Summary

After Jane Austen's earliest known writings, she began a more serious work, Lady Susan, in 1793 or 1794. It is a short, epistolary novel that portrays a woman bent on the exercise of her own powerful mind and personality to the point of social self-destruction.

Lady Susan, a clever and ruthless widow, determines that her daughter is going to marry a man whom both detest. Lady Susan sets her own sights on her sister-in-law's brother, all the while keeping an old affair simmering on the back burner. But people refuse to play the roles assigned them, and in the end her daughter gets the sister-in-law's brother, the old affair runs out of steam, and all that is left for Lady Susan is the man intended for her daughter, the one neither can abide.

Jane Austen ended this work abruptly with the comment: "This correspondence...could not, to the great detriment of the Post Office revenue, be continued any longer."

(P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Character is revealed, plot unfolds, suspense builds all through the device of letters exchanged amongst Lady Susan, her family, friends, and enemies." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Lady Susan

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Oh dear, oh dear oh Dear!!!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

English voices and proper pronounciation

What did you like best about this story?

only the author, I have just read this in book form - totally preferable

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

Not if they are attempting English accents

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No, apart from the male narrator, even the actors had different american regional accents which really grate - some try to sound a little English, in patches, but without much success.

Any additional comments?

The pronunciation is dire Main Wairing for the anglicised Mannering. Churchill for ChurchHIll.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining early Austen mangled by delivery.

I generally agree with the other reviews. Plodding delivery. Poor pronunciation. Tedious listening despite this being a very entertaining early work.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pathetic reading with awful American accents.

I don't quite understand as Audible narration and readings are usually good, or even outstanding. Here we have high-pitched voices with slow reading trying to hide their American accents beyond fake Anglo-British accents. The results are a homicide on Jane Austen's epistolary novel! It would have been wiser if not British performers were not available to stick to just regular American accents instead of this awful mixture.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

American accents ruin an average story

This is the writing of Jane Austin aged 20, and it lacks the depth and breadth of her later writing, though there are some glimpses of later characterisations. I could enjoy the story more if it were not for the affectations of the readers. I could forgive the American accents had they not tried so hard to caricature the dramatis personae. Add to that mispronunciations of some of the names: Main-warning for Mainwaring for example: it should be Mannering, and everything just grates, I’m afraid. This Title is free, and as such it serves its purpose: to read the book for people to listen to; but I shall be looking out for a better, English, version for any repeated listening.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

What is this delivery!?

Who allowed this delivery? And I'm not even talking about the American accents. In places it sounds like the narrators are making fun of the material, are choking, or having a stroke.... Over the top and unnecessary.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

American accents were a bit off-putting

Doesn't really work for a period drama for me, I struggled to finish it

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I have never known so many of the English gentry to have American accents

The story is classic Austen (albeit in an epistolary form) and is very enjoyable. I would, however, suggest finding a different recording as all of the characters in this one have a mid-Atlantic drawl which is most offputting.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Dreadful performamce

This felt like an insult to Jane Austen. American accents mixed in with English did not work. the performance seemed to mock the writing.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, patchy voice acting

The main male narrator who reads the chapter headings is good. Everyone else is hit and miss.

It was like nails on a chalkboard when Sir Reginald read his letter. And, everytime that Catherine mimicked Lady Susan, I genuinely struggled to continue. All this to say, it was still really quite enjoyable. Good writing is good writing. If you find the ending rather abrupt - it is an unfinished work after all - watch Love and Friendship with Kate Beckinsale to spend more time in this wonderful universe. Beckinsale nails Lady Susan from this novella.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A delightful morsel from a young Jane Austen

I’m surprised Jane Austen had the maturity to write this piece at 20 years old. All the wit and understanding of human nature is within it. A lovely surprise for J A fans. I really enjoy the form of telling the story through letter writing.

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