Play Audiobook Sample
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter: A Novel of Jane Austen's Lady Susan Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.06) - 263 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
In Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway have taken Jane Austen's novella, Lady Susan, and transformed it into a vivid and richly developed novel of love lost and found--and the complex relationships between women, men, and money in Regency England. Lady Vernon and her daughter, Frederica, are left penniless and without a home after the death of Sir Frederick Vernon, Susan's husband. Frederick' s brother and heir, Charles Vernon, like so many others of his time, has forgotten his promises to look after the women, and despite their fervent hopes to the contrary, does nothing to financially support Lady Vernon and Frederica. When the ladies, left without another option, bravely arrive at Charles's home to confront him about his treatment of his family, they are faced with Charles's indifference, his wife Catherine's distrustful animosity, and a flood of rumors that threaten to undo them all. Will Lady Vernon and Frederica find love and happiness--and financial security--or will their hopes be dashed with their lost fortune? With wit and warmth reminiscent of Austen's greatest works, Lady Vernon and Her Daughter brings to vivid life a time and place where a woman's security is at the mercy of an entail, where love is hindered by misunderstanding, where marriage can never be entirely isolated from money, yet where romance somehow carries the day.
Download and start listening now!
"Delightful! A Jane Austen plot with a modern voice. The book contains more letters than in J.A.'s original works, but it was interesting to read the point of view from all the characters, which we must otherwise infer if we bother to analyze the other characters at all. I was concerned that I wouldn't like an author tampering with and taking liberties with JA's works, but because this one was unfinished, the book only enhanced the originals. My only criticism is that some characters become too one-sided, stereotypical, and/or flawed. Mr Vernon is too completely self-centered and evil. Mrs Vernon is too narrow minded and blind to the truth. Mrs Johnson is all silliness and gossip. And perhaps Lady Vernon is too good and perfect. But overall, this was an enjoyable read. I love a book that comes together as it should at the end! The only way this book could be better is if Jane Austen had written it herself."
— Becky (4 out of 5 stars)
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter Listener Reviews
-
" I knew Austen had written a novella called "Lady Susan" but hadn't ever read it since it was incomplete and very close to sense and sensibility. These authors did a great job "filling in" a story for it. They kept the style very close to Austen's and made it believable. I wouldn't call it a fast-paced or suprising book, but a fun read for Austen fans. A bit more narrative than a I was in the mood for this week (another very Austen trait.) "
— Erin(and, 1/14/2014 -
" I listened to the audiobook for this one and found it quite engaging. I'm not sure that reading the hard copy would have been quite as pleasant, but I'd recommend it to any Austen fans as worthy of checking out. "
— Elizabeth, 12/21/2013 -
" These authors took a short story that Jane Austen wrote (Lady Susan) and made it into a full-length novel. I thought they did a really good job. If you like Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer books, you'll like this. I'll admit I thought it was even more clever than most Georgette Heyer books I've read. "
— Elizabeth, 12/20/2013 -
" By taking an unfinished Austen novel and reworking it, the authors had a very daunting task ahead of them. I feel that they succeeded with flying colors, as the book definitely had the Jane Austen feel, with excellent characters and dialogue. Not the usual Austen spin-off, using already created characters in familiar situations, but a nice creation of new heroines. "
— Amy, 12/13/2013 -
" Enjoyed the book. Isn't quite worked enough. Some parts seem to be just efficient narrative. Other parts are quite fun. Kept me up past 3 a.m. finishing the book last night. Most of if was about how ridiculous the matches the gossips were determined to gossip about. "
— Ange, 11/17/2013 -
" Love Austen, so this book gave another taste of her. I even liked that the authors made Lady Vernon and her daughter more likeable/sympathetic than maybe Jane did in her original letters. "
— Dawn, 10/23/2013 -
" This was fun. It is based off of a Jane Austen book, lady Susan, that was never completed. It definitely had the Jane Austen flare. I really liked it, but just love a good love story. "
— Miriam, 7/7/2013 -
" This book is near genius! The authors turn the premise of Austen's novella on its head! Not only do they transform Lady Susan froma villain into a heroine, they turn her wimpy daughter into a woman of substance and accomplishment. This is by far the best Austen take-off I have ever read. "
— Belinda, 5/4/2013 -
" Once you get through the first 5 chapters or so you cannot put it down. "
— Karen, 11/5/2012 -
" I would have liked it a lot better if I had not read the original Austen excerpts in the back of the book. The authors changed the character completely from Austen's original. "
— Jeeperz96, 9/19/2012 -
" I'll admit I haven't read any Jane Austen books before so I had to take this one as a stand alone book. I liked it but I didn't exactly love it. It just seemed to repeat itself too much. "
— Andrea, 5/1/2012 -
" It was a little slow, starting out, but once I got into the characters I didn't want to put it down. I kept staying up too late. "
— Charla, 12/21/2011 -
" Ah... one of those Jane Austen novella-inspired novels... It was pretty good. I enjoyed it. The women characters were a bit anachronistically outspoken, but I like that in a story. "
— Julia, 7/18/2011 -
" What a yawwwner! Could not get the past the boringness of the first several chapter to hang around and find out what happens. Kept falling asleep. "
— Tamra, 7/12/2011 -
" Wow, as close to jane Austen's ability with prose as I've ever encountered. Totally captured the essence of the period and was fraught with rumour and misguided notions and gossip as good as Jane's. Highly recommend to fans of Austen's writings. "
— Ellen, 5/14/2011 -
" This was a very good story. An interesting mode of taking a novella by Jane Austin and rewriting it into a novel and changing the personalities and making the story actually more rewarding. I liked the changes and thought it a great improvement over the original. Good outweights the bad. "
— Shirley, 5/3/2011 -
" Once you get through the first 5 chapters or so you cannot put it down. "
— Karen, 3/22/2011 -
" I have not found a single Jane Austen spin-off novel that is worth reading...so I think I will forever shut the door on this part of my reading life. "
— Wendy, 3/4/2011 -
" This was fun. It is based off of a Jane Austen book, lady Susan, that was never completed. It definitely had the Jane Austen flare. I really liked it, but just love a good love story. "
— Miriam, 1/15/2011 -
" This book is a great tirbute to Jane Austen. I love all of the gossip and misinformation shared through letters to all of the main players. "
— Lois, 12/7/2010 -
" This "back story" to Austen's not-as-well-known LADY SUSAN is quite interesting. Austen portrays Lady Susan unsympathethically, but in this version, Susan is a delightful character. "
— Mary, 9/21/2010 -
" I didn't expect to like this novel so much, but it sucked me in and I finished it in 48 hours! :-) "
— Caroline, 8/7/2010 -
" Ah... one of those Jane Austen novella-inspired novels... It was pretty good. I enjoyed it. The women characters were a bit anachronistically outspoken, but I like that in a story. "
— Julia, 7/19/2010 -
" I thought this was a great book. It was an unfinished Jane Austen novel. At first I didn't realize this and I was thinking how similar this novel was to the style of Jane Austen. I liked it a lot! "
— Joanne, 7/11/2010 -
" I'll admit I haven't read any Jane Austen books before so I had to take this one as a stand alone book. I liked it but I didn't exactly love it. It just seemed to repeat itself too much. "
— Andrea, 6/22/2010 -
" A reworking and expansion of Jane Austen's early novella, Lady Susan, the authors kept Austen's style. A fun read for Austen fans. "
— Carolyn, 6/17/2010
About the Authors
Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London’s West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC’s Lost.
About Susan Duerden
Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London’s West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC’s Lost.