Love and Freindship

Love and Freindship [sic] is a juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790. From the age of eleven until she was eighteen, Jane Austen wrote her tales in three notebooks. The notebooks still exist – one in the Bodleian Library; the other two in the British Museum. They include among others Love and Freindship, written when Jane was fourteen, and The History of England, when she was fifteen.

Written in epistolary form, like her later unpublished novella, Lady Susan, Love and Freindship is thought to be one of the tales she wrote for the amusement of her family; it was dedicated to her cousin Eliza de Feuillide, "La Comtesse de Feuillide". The instalments, written as letters from the heroine Laura, to Marianne, the daughter of her friend Isabel, may have come about as nightly readings by the young Jane in the Austen home. Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen read as a child. This is clear even from the subtitle, "Deceived in Freindship and Betrayed in Love", which completely undercuts the title.

Love & Friendship

Love & Friendship is an upcoming romantic comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman. It is based on Jane Austen's 1871 epistolary novel Lady Susan. The film stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry. It centres on Lady Susan Vernon (Beckinsale), who seeks refuge at her in-laws estate while rumors about her private life circulate through society. Lady Susan then decides to find a husband for both herself and her daughter. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016. The film is scheduled to be released on May 13, 2016, by Roadside Attractions and Amazon Studios.

Plot

Set in the 1790s, the widowed Lady Susan Vernon seeks refuge with her in-laws as rumors about her private life circulate through society. While staying at the estate, Lady Susan decides to find herself and her daughter, Frederica, a husband.

Cast