Jane Austen and Lady Susan - Five Appalling Women

This is a splendidly entertaining novella by Jane Austen, written as 41 letters between the characters of a tightly-plotted farce, doninated by the towering figure of Lady Susan. She is a magnificently disloyal houseguest (she sleeps with the husband and seduces the daughter's suitor), a bullying mother (she torments and bosses her terrified 16 year old daughter), and a scheming sister-in-law (she dangles the heir to the estate for as long as she wants him). If only she could meet her match. For readers who snap their fans coolly in the face of disaster.