Love and Freindship

Love and Freindship by Jane Austen offers readers a glimpse into the author’s brilliant, hilarious, and often outrageous early stories, sketches, and pieces of nonsense, newly compiled for Penguin Classics.

Jane Austen's earliest writings date back to when she was just eleven years old, already showcasing the hallmarks of her mature work. However, these works are also products of the eighteenth century she grew up in—dark, grotesque, often surprisingly bawdy, and a stark contrast to the polished, sparkling novels of manners for which she gained fame.

The collection features drunken heroines, babies who bite off their mother's fingers, and a letter-writer who has murdered her entire family, illuminating Austen's comedic genius in these early pieces. This edition encompasses all of Austen's juvenilia, including her 'History of England'—written by 'a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant Historian'—as well as the novella 'Lady Susan', where the anti-heroine schemes and cheats her way through high society.