Lady Vernon and her Daughter
Publisher Crown, October 2009
A delightful interpretation of Jane Austen’s early novella Lady Susan–a treat for fans of literature’s most beloved woman of letters, as well as historical fiction readers.
Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan was written during the same period in which she produced Elinor and Marianne. Like Elinor and Marianne, Lady Susan focused on the economic and romantic plights of two heroines displaced when the family home passes to an unworthy heir; but while Elinor and Marianne was revised and happily expanded to become Sense and Sensibility, Lady Susan was abandoned. Until now.
In Lady Susan and Her Daughter, Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway have taken letters from this novella and transformed them into to a vivid, authentic, and more recognizably “Austen” milieu. Lady Susan and her daughter must navigate a society where a woman’s security is at the mercy of an entail, where love is hindered by misunderstanding, where marriage can never be entirely isolated from money, and yet romance somehow carries the day.
“A captivating read with a charmingly redeemed heroine–Jane Austen fans will love it!”
— Syrie James, author of the best-selling The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen
“Cleverly inverts the premise of Austen’s Lady Susan, with a richness of background and detail that enlivens the original epistolary novel. Should delight the most acute Austen fans.”
— Stephanie Barron, national best-selling author of the Jane Austen Mysteries
“Austen devotees will appreciate the authenticity of language and setting as well as the many witty allusions to the canon.”
— Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict
“This solid rethinking of Lady Susan deserves a place on the shelf of any Austen aficionado.”
— Marsha Altman, author of The Darcys & The Bingleys
“A delightfully clever resculpting of Austen’s youthful Lady Susan. Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway have rewarded honesty and perseverance in the style of Sense and Sensibility. Good fun!”
— Kathryn L. Nelson, author of Pemberley Manor
“I loved this book! Lady Vernon and Her Daughter is a brilliant tour-de-force in Austen-related fiction and I believe that Jane Austen would be the first to congratulate the authors on their achievement.”
— C. Allyn Pierson, author of And This Our Life: Chronicles of the Darcy Family
“Lady Vernon and Her Daughter is delightful! The authors have created an infinitely kinder, softer and more likeable Lady Susan than Austen’s and this is a most clever and engaging re-working of her short novel. I admire the way the authors have paid homage to the Austen style throughout. I loved it.”
— Jill Pitkeathley, author of Cassandra and Jane
