Book Review: "Love and Friendship" by Jane Austen

You're probably surprised that I'm only sharing this now but I have a beautiful story behind this book. I got this book some years' back and I bought it on my birthday from a prominent bookshop. The copy I bought was a beautiful Penguin Clothbound Classics edition and has some great stories inside. I've read it a couple of times since I bought it and I still can't believe how eloquent and witty Jane Austen was during her teens. By reading this I think anyone could see how talented she would become in her future years. It really is a treat to read whenever I find it again.

I know, I know, the title of "Love and Friendship" is intentionally misspelled to have the "i" and the "e" the wrong way around in "Friendship" but for the sake of this review, I will be spelling it correctly because I can't stand that little jagged line beneath the word.

Love and Friendship is a story told in letters from Laura to her friend Marianne, it follows a string of improbable misfortunes, elopements, and fainting fits. It exaggerates all of the 18th century tropes in the best and funniest of ways, these are mainly to do with romance novels such as: dramatic confessions and instant love - making them all look rather absurd. Beneath the humour lies a shrewd critique of literature that rewards passion over sense, a theme we would see again within her later novel: Sense and Sensibility. There's something about this story that definitely screams teenage rebellion and Austen gets it right every time.

The themes we see in writing such as Lesley Castle and The History of England also show us some of the things Austen was keen on dismantling, such as: gothic tropes of the time (the sort of thing she would have grown up reading). This will come back in my favourite Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey when she begins her true dissection of the 18th century gothic. Where grand historical figures are reduced to gossip, we get a critique of the Medieval gothic tropes that litter 18th century neoclassic novels and then we get the themes of obsession and madness - both of which lead us on from books like The Castle of Otranto (which I have no doubt Jane Austen would have read in her youth at least once).

I always love Jane Austen's moral audacity and because her teenage rebellion is so prominent in this book, it comes out so much more. When she becomes an adult, she controls it more but I think I like it when she stays a bit unhinged. But the unhinged moral audacity can definitely be seen in characters like Lady Susan and Lydia Bennett. Her superb wit and charm when writing is something that keeps the reader involved with these women from start to finish. I honestly think it is a blast every single time.

The inversion of proper conduct of women at the time comes from the way in which these early heroines behave. They drink, they're wild, they party and they are completely disregarding any gender norms and rules set for them by the 18th century autocrats and patriarchs. It's also why they are so relatable to women of any time. These are characters who paved the way for women to simply let go of these unwritten social rules. It opened up that once very domestic space that women were confined to, into a creative space for these women to explore and expand their personalities. Austen's heroines always had deep inner lives, but with these early ones I think she was trying to prove a point about who she wanted to be as well. She wanted to be one of those wild women, not confined to the shadows. And now, she's on our banknotes which is not bad for her time!

Honestly, if you haven't read this book then I suggest you pick it up. There's something really fun and hearty about this book, it definitely features Jane Austen at her most unruly and brilliant. She outwits and plays games with even the most strict stereotypes for women, men and even genre tropes of the day. It is truly wonderful.