Lady Susan Vernon’s reputation precedes her, and not in a good way.
Brought to life on the big screen by director Whit Stillman, with Kate Beckinsale in the leading role, Jane Austen’s posthumously published Lady Susan has finally been given the Hollywood adaptation treatment. Adopting the title of an entirely separate piece of Austen’s juvenilia, Love & Friendship attempts to find a home amongst the established Austen adaptation canon by mirroring titles like Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.
Sharply witty and concerned with a protagonist who might be likened to an older, more maliciously self-serving version of Emma Woodhouse, the novella is epistolary in form, posing a formidable challenge to those wishing to translate it to film, where characters traditionally occupy the same physical space. Herein lies its downfall.
The precious commodity of biblical friendship
On a recent holiday visit to the Scottish Museum of Modern Art, I was struck by the entrance hall artwork …