Love and Friendship

By Jane Austen

Discover the origins of Jane Austen's trademark wit and biting observations in these early writings.

With the earliest writing dating from when Jane Austen was just eleven, these stories are a fascinating insight into the polished writer she would later become. Readers familiar with Austen will recognize her characteristic wit and observations of manners and money already present, but these stories are more surprising, bawdy and even unpleasant than the novels which would make her famous.

This edition features the two short epistolary novels Love and Freindship and Lady Susan, as well as a scattering of pieces of writing from Austen's juvenile years. This is a fascinating and vital insight into Austen's wider work, whether you are an Austen fanatic or just have a passing knowledge.

This book is part of a range of highly designed fiction and non-fiction classics. With bold, eye-catching graphic covers by Evi O Studio, this collection aims to introduce a selection of the most celebrated works of the last thousand years to a new audience. Featuring tales of adventure, fiction from the 19th and 20th centuries, feminist writings, and reflections on art, politics, philosophy and the origins of man, this is a small, wide-reaching and essential collection.

Evi O Studio is led by Evi, a designer with over 10 years' industry experience. She has worked as a designer at Penguin Books, and her work has won a number of publishing and design awards, including Young Designer of the Year and Book of the Year. Evi is also a well-known artist, exhibiting her abstract paintings regularly in Sydney and Melbourne.

• Language: English
• Publisher: OH Editions
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781804530078

Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose work centred on social commentary and realism. Her works of romantic fiction are set among the landed gentry, and she is one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

Reviews for Love and Friendship

[elizabeth_foster-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jane Austen wrote this very funny, relatively short, epistolary tale at the tender age of fourteen or so. The foreword of my edition gives a thorough explanation of the word sensibility as it was understood in Jane Austen's time and that helped my reading of the story immensely. I love Austen's sense of humour and there is plenty on show in Love and Friendship.

[amydross · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating read, it feels very different from other Austen novels. More sharply, openly satirical, but I got the feeling that Austen herself wasn't sure how she felt about her protagonist. Is she really evil, or simply making the best of the poor hand life has dealt her? I think ultimately, the scales tip toward "evil", but then, she does all right for herself in the end, so what's the message there?

[karin7-11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Love and Freindship and Other Early Works by Jane Austen, published posthumously , Harmony Books 118 pages
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This is an example of something written by an otherwise good to great author that was published posthumously, perhaps just to make money. While there are some delightful gems interspersed, some of this was written before Jane was even fifteen. While they show many of her stellar qualities, they are still at a more undeveloped stage. Some of these she called “novels” but nothing in this is longer than a short story length, and they are all comprised solely of letters. They are fictional, and do show how Jane’s insights were already sharp and developing even at such a young age. I picked this up for a challenge because I didn’t see this the year I read every Jane Austen book in my library where I was living at the time and it was long enough, but not long, so that I could squeeze it in for a challenge.

[jnwelch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love and Freindship by Jane Austen was written when she was 14 and 15 (mine has her History of England in it, too). Mainly in the form of letters, outrageous spoofs of the romance genre abound. There is some presaging of what is to come with this author, with discussions of the importance of marriage and wealth, obsessions with appearance, inflated pomposity, and more. The writing is impressive - she has a remarkable sense of flow and timing even at such a young age. The spelling disarmingly needs work, particularly on the "i before e" rule.And large swatches are really funny. The young, love-obsessed duo of Laura and Sophia regularly faint at unexpected romantic developments:"She (Sophia) was all Sensibility and Feeling. We flew into each other's arms and after having exchanged vows of mutual Freindship for the rest of our Lives, instantly unfolded to each other the most inward secrets of our Hearts. -- We were interrupted in the delightfull Employment by the entrance of Augustus (Edward's freind), who was just returned from a solitary ramble. Never did I see such an affecting Scene as was the meeting of Edward and Augustus."My Life! my Soul!" (exclaimed the former) "My Adorable Angel!" (replied the latter), as they flew into each other's arms. It was too pathetic for the feelings of Sophia and myself -- We fainted alternately on a sofa".Perhaps as a sign of maturity, Laura begins instead to regularly "shriek and run mad" at dramatic moments in her life. Soon they are comparing the health benefits of the two, with frenzied fits having the benefit of warmth in the blood and exercise. During a quiet moment, an unplanned entry into a dark carriage one night turns out to be a coincidental reunion with most of Laura's relatives (the carriage somehow having tardis-like proportions), two of whom had stolen money from her during one of her fainting fits.It's believed that Austen would read installments of Love and Freindship aloud at night to entertain her family. One can easily imagine the family's laughter at the wit of this young teen writer, and the exhilaration of her emerging talent.This would not be the place to start reading Jane Austen (too juvenile in the end), and it's hard to imagine someone choosing to read it who is not already a fan of the author via her novels. But for those who are fans, it's a lucky chance to share in the humorous tales of a hugely talented young girl who became one of the world's most famous authors.