When a noble youth arrives unannounced to request the hand of the matchless Laura, it seems their future is one of contentment and bliss – that is until his family learn of the marriage and, one by one, they reject the new bride. Such begins the series of unspeakable events that Laura must confront and overcome, by way of the occasional fainting fit and bout of delirium.
Tragedy and comedy here go hand in hand as a very foolish young heroine is placed at the centre of Jane Austen’s early satire on drawing-room society. Written as a series of letters, ‘Love and Friendship’ is a delicious romp through the highs and lows of a young girl’s lot in life and a precursor of Austen’s later works of genius. It is accompanied by ‘The Three Sisters’, another expertly crafted epistolary novel, and the brilliant ‘A Collection of Letters’ which has been described by Fay Weldon as ‘five just about perfect short stories’.
