Love and Friendship

Love and Freindship, an epistolary novella, is sometimes confused with a similar work by Jane Austen: Lady Susan. This is not only due to the identical literary form, but also because of the film Love & Friendship, which, despite its title, is actually based on Lady Susan.

“Our” book, Love and Freindship, is, however, a separate work by the world-famous author, remarkable for the fact that she wrote it between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Perhaps it is thanks to the recklessness of youth that she was able to mock many of the clichés of romantic literature: we need only mention “scenes full of fainting”, “unexpected appearances of previously unknown relatives”, “noble feelings versus base reality”, or “the obligatory resistance against parental despotism”.

Above it all hovers Jane Austen's unsurpassed irony and her sharp wit—but also feelings, passion and love, albeit presented in such a way that sometimes we don't know whether to laugh or cry. Laughter is certainly in order, as the author wrote these fictional letters for the amusement of her family circle; even so, you will read the account of the beautiful and trouble-plagued Laura with bated breath and will not be able to resist admiring the narrative skills of the young Jane, who would later become one of the most beloved and acclaimed writers of all time.

Translated from the English original by Josef Pepson Snětivý.