It's a slim little volume, just 87 pages. But avid readers of Jane Austen will eat up every page of "Love and Friendship" a collection of three apocryphal novella fragments collected by Hesperus Press. All three are written as a series of letters, with a forward by novelist and screenwriter Fay Weldon.
The first entry, "Love and Friendship" is a completed story. It's over the top melodrama non-stop, understandable since she wrote it at age fourteen, but definitely in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The tragic tale of young Laura, who meets, falls for and marries the son of a baronet in the space of about five minutes. The baronet does not approve of his new daughter-in-law, forcing misadventure upon the young couple and their friends. That is only the beginning, the tragedies pile up, as does the ridiculous coincidences that allow our heroine to travel all over England, fainting, meddling in private affairs and ultimately losing her husband and friend. The story is beyond ridiculous, but the sparkling wit and amusing conversation between characters that Jane would put to good use in masterpieces like "Pride & Prejudice" is on full display.
"The Three Sisters" is not finished, I think it would have ranked among Miss Austen's classics if it had. Mary Stanhope has been proposed to by a very boring, unattractive and slightly obnoxious man who has a modest amount of wealth. She doesn't want to accept, but eventually does in order to be the first among her sisters and friends to be married. She reminds me of Lydia Bennett a great deal. When she goes to gloat to her friends, she is introduced to a handsome newcomer. Oops, guess she should have waited! The story ends about there, but I have a feeling it would've been a good one.
The final piece is called "A Collection Of Letters" which describes it perfectly: five stories written as letters. The first is kind of boring, a mother tells of her girls introduction into society. The second involves a girl who has been dumped for reasons not mentioned, and is feeling it much harder than her prior misadventures in romance. She then converses with a older woman who tells her a tale of love taken by death. The third is vignette of another young girl whose frenemies take her to balls, only to make fun of her being less well off. It's kind of funny. Fourth is the awkward conversation between an very nosy young lady trying to learn the back story of a newcomer to the area. Last is a tale of star crossed lovers and their love notes. Each of them would fit perfectly into any of Jane Austen's stories: scenes with out context, but obviously well-written, well-paced and featuring Jane's impeccable sense of delight in love gone a little awry.
As a huge fan of Jane Austen's books, I found this collection delightful. If you don't like Jane Austen, or have read very little of her work, you may find it tedious and lacking in plot.
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