SUSAN

By Alice McVeigh

McVeigh’s Susan was inspired by her wondering what the wicked 35-year-old Lady Susan Vernon, from Austen’s novella, might have been like, at just sixteen.

After being expelled from her London ladies’ school, Susan has the great good luck to charm Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who takes her under her wing. Unluckily, she also entrances a young nobleman, a circumstance which alarms her uncle/guardian. He sends her on an extended visit to his brother in Hunsford, Kent – her other uncle and aunt being none other than Mr and Mrs Collins (from Pride and Prejudice). However, there is temptation everywhere, if one is as young, pretty and mettlesome as Susan is, at sixteen…

Excerpt from Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel:

Susan rushed from the chair to her uncle’s door, recalling some of Aunt Emily’s warnings. (‘A gentleman will never restrain you. Should this happen, you must instantly reprove him’… ‘A woman’s reputation is her most precious asset. Any rumour that she might be likely to yield is itself a stain, which might never be erased.’)

But had she truly been restrained by Mr Oliver? She had been some danger of falling, which might serve as his excuse – but she could not forget the moment when she had tried to move, and he had held her.

Only the dozing housekeeper awaited her: her aunt and uncle, in full dependence on her ladyship, had long since retired. Susan accepted a lit candle and ascended the stairs, still nervously wondering, ‘Am I safe?’

She was not to know until the morning.

A second excerpt:

Lady Catherine started, saying, ‘Nay, I was not asleep. You should take care not to sink your tone at the end of a section, Miss Smithson. Now, be so good as to play to me upon the pianoforte.’

Susan seated herself at the instrument, recalling an early work by Corri, which she had recently memorised. Lady Catherine beat time with her forefinger throughout and at its conclusion announced that she had always been devoted to Haydn. But when Susan enquired whether she might like another air, she said, ‘No. You may go, Miss Smithson – but come tomorrow at half-past two, to read to me again.’

Susan, hiding her dancing eyes, promised to attend her with the greatest pleasure. However, back at home, Aunt Emily took some time to quite believe her. ‘What, she summoned you, and with such little ceremony? And you read for so long a time?’

‘I doubt she was aware of the time, but I was quite hoarse by the end of it.’

‘And you are really to return tomorrow?’

‘So she said, though she might as easily dispatch me home again. She might go out – she might forget. She is – capricious.’

ISBN: 978-1916882317

Publication: June 2021

Publisher: Warleigh Hall Press

Editions: Paperback, ebook, audiobook

Amazon bestseller, rated 10/10 by Publishers Weekly's BookLife Prize

A Jane Austen Prequel

“She possesses an uncommon union of symmetry, brilliancy, and grace. One is apt to expect that an impudent address will naturally attend an impudent mind – but her countenance is absolutely sweet. I am sorry it is so, for what is this but deceit?”

— from Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.

Sixteen-year-old Susan Smithson – pretty but poor, clever but capricious – has just been expelled from a school for young ladies in London.

At the mansion of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she attracts a raffish young nobleman. But, at the first hint of scandal, her guardian dispatches her to her uncle Collins’ rectory in Kent, where her sensible cousin Alicia lives and “where nothing ever happens.”

Here Susan mischievously inspires the local squire to put on a play, with consequences no one could possibly have foreseen. What with the unexpected arrival of Frank Churchill, Alicia’s falling in love and a tumultuous elopement, rural Kent will surely never seem safe again…

Click here to read about the Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen series.

Awards

Quarterfinalist for Publishers Weekly’s BookLife Prize 2021 (rated 10/10)

Winner: First Place PenCraft Book Awards (historical), 2021

Winner: Gold Medal Historical Fiction Company Book Awards, 2022

WINNER: First place (historical) Incipere Book Awards 2022

Winner: Gold Medal (historical) Global Book Awards, 2021

Winner: Gold Medal eLit Book Awards (historical fiction)

Winner: Gold Medal first Winter Great Reads Book awards, Pencraft Book Awards 2022

Finalist for IAN (Independent Author Network) “Book of the Year 2024”

Honoree: IndieBRAG medallion, 2021

Honorable Mention (fourth) in literary fiction, Readers Favorite International Book Awards

Finalist: Indie Excellence Book Awards

Selected: as one of “100 notable Indies of 2021” by Shelf Unbound Magazine

Finalist: Wishing Shelf Awards (audio)

Finalist: Chanticleer’s Goethe Award (historical fiction)

Finalist Rone Awards (audio)

“Recommended” US Review of Books

First place winner, Chanticleer International Book Award BOOK SERIES (historical, 2023)

Silver medal, Global Book Awards 2024 (Book series, fiction)

Susan is at the moment on a special offer and exclusive to Amazon. For this reason, the links to alternative retailers below will not work for now. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Reviews for Susan

“While this title will be catnip to dedicated Austen fans, even new initiates into her work will be captivated by this lively tale.”

“Regency readers will find Susan both enjoyable and entertaining; her naughty flouting of the rules walks the tightrope of remaining cheeky and endearing while hinting at the colder, self-centered woman that is depicted by Austen in Lady Susan.”

“The reader is introduced to Susan, who relies on the good social standing and charity of her aunt and uncle. It is her sole duty, according to her relatives, to pursue economic security through marriage. Extremely beautiful and charming, yet openly rebellious against the expectations of her social status, she causes quite the headache for her relatives. The writing style is witty, fun, and has all the hallmarks of an Austen novel. It will likely appeal to those who seek a modern continuation of British gentry romance and intrigue.”

“McVeigh has created a strong character unwilling to conform to the expectations for women of the early 1800s. Susan's charm and beauty allures many, giving her the freedom that other women would not have had during the period. The writing style is witty, fun, and has all the hallmarks of an Austen novel. It will likely appeal to those who seek a modern continuation of British gentry romance and intrigue.”

“Fans of Jane Austen are in for an indulgent treat with the brilliantly crafted novel, Susan. Alice McVeigh has truly mastered the period parlance, immersing readers fully in this charming historical romance. The story features a few familiar characters such as the hard-to-please Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the unending perorations of one Mr. Collins. But the ever impertinent Susan is the unmistakable star in this polished novel...”

“This book contains a charming awareness of Jane Austen’s novels that careful readers can collect like small tokens. As Susan says, she is neither “handsome, clever, well-travelled, rich,” and McVeigh flaunts her success with reinvention...Emma mingles with Pride and Prejudice in a delightful confrontation between the two books' worlds. 10 stars.”

“Novelist, editor, and ghostwriter McVeigh (While the Music Lasts) offers an outstanding addition to the canon of Jane Austen-inspired fiction with this utterly charming period novel, a prequel to Austen’s sharp-elbowed Lady Susan… Susan is a mischievous and clever heroine in the tradition of Austen’s pluckiest characters, and McVeigh populates her story with a cast of first-rate supporting characters, especially Susan’s cousin Alicia, who in the end provides the biggest surprise of the tale.”