“If she were going to be jealous, she should not have married such a charming man.” And thus Lady Susan Vernon–portrayed with delightfully unrepentant coquettish ennui by Kate Beckinsale (previously seen in the 1996 Jane Austen tv film Emma) in the new film of the Jane Austen novella “Lady Susan”, and renamed for film as “Love & Friendship”—justifies her dalliance with a married man.
“Love & Friendship” Official Trailer, by Roadside Flix
How this Jane Austen bon bon of a story escaped my notice all these years is beyond me! The trailer is delicious and hints at a merry Regency romp with proper manners askew whenever Lady Susan is around.
I can’t wait to see it! Unfortunately, the film showed in our town only briefly a few weeks ago and then flitted away—much like Lady Susan herself when she skitters to her brother-in-law’s home Churchill to seek a roof over her head, and one or two husbands, for she and her daughter.
So I bought the book online at Amazon for free for my Kindle for PC! Snap! It is captivating me right away with its letters approach. Because as Jane Austen writes, people of the Regency period must have been far less concerned with their missives being made public because they are exceedingly and shockingly frank.
As one correspondent, Mr. Reginald De Courcy (the younger, portrayed by Xavier Samuel), writes in his letter to his sister Mrs. Vernon—who also happens to be the widowed Lady Susan’s sister-in-law by marriage, with their husbands having been brothers:
“…she does not confine herself to that sort of honest flirtation which satisfies mo
st people, but aspires to the more delicious gratification of making a whole family miserable. [The Mainwaring’s at Langford] …by all that I can gather, Lady Susan possesses a degree of captivating deceit which it must be pleasing to witness and to detect.” (Kindle Edition, location 88 to 100)
Delicious, indeed! One trembles at the thought of receiving such a house guest as the lovely Lady Susan Vernon (below) —that is, if one has a too charming husband, or a ridiculously rich son, as yet unmarried, who might be marriage fodder for the lady’s insipid daughter. *wink*
Barely 90 pages in length, and written when Jane Austen was but a budding writer of 14 years of age—Lady Susan promises to reveal the then young Jane Austen’s quite mature understanding of individuals and their fractured relationships.
I have my lazy Friday afternoon off at the start of the long holiday weekend reading all set to enjoy! TTFN!
P.S. And I can only hope that “Love & Friendship” (right), plays at another nearby movie theatre, goes to dvd , or streams online soon so that I might view it!
July 01 & 06, 2016–Thanks for liking this post! I’m glad that you enjoyed it! Cheers!
discovermarche, april73, Esther
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