The three volumes of Jane Austen's largely unseen early fragments are published together in this new edition along with the epistolary short story 'Lady Susan.' Although written for friends and family and never meant to be seen by the public, the current obsession in academia with famous writer's juvenilia has brought these scraps under scrutiny and I am not convinced it was a good idea. Granted, 'Lady Susan' is in my opinion an exemplary piece of subversive fiction for its time, but the rest is a messy, tedious collection of experimental scribblings and false starts best left in the scrapbook. Those interested in the process of the craft may be intrigued by these premature offerings but I felt something bordering on distasteful voyeurism, more so in that a lot of the stories aren't even completed.
The actual content of the stories are what one would normally expect from Austen, albeit to a less polished degree and with more emphasis on the ridiculous. Austen parodies the cliched conventions of the gothic novel, also satirising the romantic and sentimental elements popular in the sort of fiction that was widely available during her youth. Although mildly amusing at times, they too greatly reflected the immature mind of a girl still finding her feet and were a little discouraging in their excess. Penguin's fetishisation of celebrity can plainly be seen in the photos of Austen's original manuscript at the start of each volume. Worth a look if you're interested in all things Austen, but for the casual reader, I'd advise reading 'Lady Susan' alone and skipping over the rest.
Rating: 2/5
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