Lady Susan

This early epistolary Austen novel follows the young(ish), attractive and recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon as she schemes her way around England, leaving emotional wreckage in her wake. Lady Susan is a unique main character for Austen, two-faced, mean-spirited and amoral ... yet witty and intelligent. Unlike all Austen's other books, this one belongs to the 18th century tradition of wickedness, lasciviousness and adultery, forced marriages, and moralistic resolutions.