As an epistolary narrative, the novella is composed as a series of 41 letters and is among the shortest and least well-known of Austen’s works. Lady Susan is believed to be written between 1793 and 1794, making it one of Austen’s earliest writings, although the novella itself was not published until 1871 within an Austen biography written by Edward Austen-Leigh. Many critics argue that because the novella was written when Austen was quite young, it is not a fully formed narrative but rather exists as a kind of narrative experiment that Austen used to pave the way for her more notable works, including Pride and Prejudice. Austen has become one of the most famous female British authors, even though she published her books anonymously and had relatively little success when she was alive. Despite the unfinished nature of the narrative, Lady Susan is still popular with modern audiences and has been adapted for the stage as well as reimagined as a novel multiple times, possibly due to the continued popularity of Austen’s writings in general. Jane Austen wrote exclusively about upper class relationships, and this novella concerns the same kind of landed British gentry.

However, although this novella concerns the same types of characters found in Austen’s longer and later novels, there are important differences to note.