Murder by Death

An omnibus of all of Jane Austen's writing as a youth, including Lady Susan, this was in many ways an eye opener.  Austen's sly wit is often mentioned when discussing her 6 major novels, but her early writing is something else altogether; nothing sly about her writing here: it's full of Monty Python-esque humour, snark, farce and, in the case of Lady Susan outright, premeditated malice to a degree I wouldn't have ever thought Jane Austen likely to have written.  All in all, a delightful discovery.

The book is laid out in the exact order Jane Austen's three notebooks were, which, with few exceptions, were in roughly chronological order.  The progression of her writing and the evolution of maturity are evident and scheming malice aside, Lady Susan reads like Austen's later works.

I experienced a combination of dread and curiosity about these works; reading the writings of a juvenile runs the risk of tediousness.  Fortunately what tediousness existed was contained in blessedly short stories and none of them were without entertainment value.  Foremost, it was a genuine pleasure to find that my favorite author was, behind it all, someone I'd have loved being friends with and whose snark I would have greatly enjoyed.

[PopSugar 2015 Challenge: A book written by someone under 30.]