While this version may not appeal to Jane Austen purists, I found it intriguing and immensely readable. Ms Andrews has kept the humour and enjoyment of the absurd, while bringing in modern concepts and ideas, and a changed ending. Though she frequently satirizes snobs, she also pokes fun at the poor breeding and misbehavior of those lower on the social scale. She distinguishes between internal merit (goodness of person) and external merit (rank and possessions). The book also includes the original Austen version, with uncorrected spellings, which enables the reader to compare the two versions. In her work, Austen is often critical of the assumptions and prejudices of upper-class England. It was interesting to see how her later novels are founded in this. While familiar with Jane Austen’s classic work, I had no knowledge of this early work. Set in the 1790s, Love and Friendship centers on beautiful widow Lady Susan Vernon, who has come to the estate of her in-laws to wait out colorful rumors. There is love at first sight, exaggerated sentiment, and a complete disregard for the feelings of others. They encounter Isabel’s old friend, Laura Lindsay, who gives Isabel a journal for Marianne to read. Updated by Beth Andrews, the story follows Isabel and her daughter, Marianne, when they attend the theatre in Bury St. Love and Friendship was written when Jane Austen was 14 and foreshadows the conflict between moral obligation and individual desire which permeates many of her more well-known books.
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