Love and Friendship: and Other Early Works - Women's Press Classics S.

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

This hilarious selection of Austen's early writings is a 'must have' for all those who love her work. It is made up of four short novels - some unfinished - in a series of letters andThe History of England, all of which display the perception, irony and devastating social criticism that are the hallmarks of her later novels.Written towards the end of the 18th century, when the author was only about fifteen, these early works show remarkable insight into the absurd notion of sensibility. Running throughout is a disarming maturity combined with the candour of youth.Love and Friendshipis a parody of the life of a lady who embodies sensibility and whose fashionable response to extremes of emotion is invariably to faint on a nearby sofa. InThe Three Sisters, a young lady has just received a marriage proposal from a man she detests. Mary Stanhope is the eldest of three sisters and desperate to be the first to marry. By turns victorious and repulsed, she vacillates with comic frequency between accepting and rejecting the proposal. Mary is tempted to accept the elevated status and material gains that such a match would bring, but checked by her feelings of repungance for her loathsome suitor. Added to which, the gentleman has made it clear that he will waste no time in pursuing the other sisters if she declines his offer. On a more exuberant note,The History of Englandhurtles through the reigns of various monarchs from Henry IV to Charles I in an ironic account that, by the frank admission of the author, contains 'very few dates'.Suzanne Perkin's witty black and white illustrations capture the burlesque quality of Austen's early works. As a final touch, to emphasize the inexperience of her genius, the occassional charming misspelling unaltered. (Kirkus UK)

|

Add to wish list

|

Tell a friend