Lady Susan is a short epistolary novel by Jane Austen, possibly written in 1794 but not published until 1871. An early complete work that the author never submitted for publication, the book describes the schemes of the main character-the widowed Lady Susan-as she seeks a new husband for herself, and one for her daughter. Jane Austen (16 December 1775 - 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most wide