Title: Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel
Author: Alice McVeigh
Rating: 3 ¾ stars
Favorite Quote: “Sometimes I think he would fancy himself every bit as well-off, were he all alone by some wild and dreary loch, with his pipe, his books and his dog!” Susan. Kindle ed., Warleigh Hall Press, 2021.
Review: I received a free e-ARC of this book from the publisher, Warleigh Hall Press, through the NetGalley platform, in exchange for an honest review.
I want to start off my saying I really, really enjoyed this book. For the first 75% or so, I was so drawn into the world of Jane Austen that I wanted to pick up the closest edition of Pride and Prejudice and just get lost in it again like I have so many times before. McVeigh masterfully captures Austen’s tone and Austen’s humor, and her novel, written in the twenty-first century, could easily be a product of Austen’s own time - at least for the first part of it.
Susan follows the protagonist, Susan, as she is banished from her boarding school and sent out of London in the hopes of avoiding scandal. Readers are re-introduced to some Pride and Prejudice characters, including the kind Charlotte and the overbearing (also, probably lots of other less-than-positive adjectives) Mr. Collins as they take in the wayward Susan.
Much of this book was the Regency era as Austen wrote of it...at least for the first part of it.
I have two primary complaints about the book, even though I overall thought the reading experience was pleasant. Both complaints involve spoilers, so be warned - SPOILERS AHEAD. My first complaint, that mostly centers around pacing, is that the plotline about the play seemed to drag on just a bit too long. About halfway through their preparations, I found my mind wandering at times, ready to get on to the next plot point. The purpose of this focus is revealed later (and in my second complaint), but even though it did lead to what might have been the climax, it still seemed like a bit too much build up.
My second complaint (SPOILER WARNING AGAIN) involved the death of one of the characters. I was so invested in the Austen-esque storyline that something so unexpected as a death was jarring - to the point that I was temporarily thrown out of the story. Given the context, I saw why the death was necessary to forward Susan’s storyline, but it was still a bit much. And it was really the only time in the novel that I felt like I wasn’t reading an Austen novel.
About that Quote: Despite its absence of an Oxford comma, my favorite form of punctuation, this quote is a favorite specifically because of how well it captures the Austen tone. A little bit humorous, a little bit critical. My favorite Austen moments are the ones where she is so artful in her critiques and judgments of others. And McVeigh captures that masterfully throughout the novel. This one just spoke to me a little bit more because I too wish I could spend my days alone with my cats, so I can understand the motivations of someone who wishes they could spend their days alone with their dogs.
Are you an Austen fan? Have you read Susan? Share your thoughts below!
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