Cunning, clever, and quite the charmer, young Susan Smithson, leads everyone on a merry adventure through the Regency world. Part Jane Austen prequel and all historical mischievous fun, I was eager to follow along for Susan’s escapades to a delightful finish.

Susan is a prequel story to Jane Austen’s Lady Susan, but also includes a character from Emma and a few from Pride & Prejudice to engage Austen’s fans and those who enjoy historical fiction with a dose of romance, alike. Written to the style of authentic Regency dialogue, manners, and settings, Susan opens when young, orphaned Susan Smithson is sent down from yet another school to reside with her aunt and uncle Collins in London. London is scrumptious paradise to a sixteen year old Susan and even her uncle and aunt’s tiresome rules on conduct are worth the price to be there. Unfortunately, Susan gets into new scrapes so must be shuffled off to her Uncle Collins older brother in Kent. There, Susan joins up with her cousin Alicia and gets up to play acting with a local wealthy family for a diversion. Along the way, she has taken the notice of the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh, an earl’s younger brother, a fun-loving Frank Churchill, and finds her wit and cunning are needed to circumvent disaster- and boredom.

Not long into this one, I was enchanted by the youthful Susan and her antics. Susan’s moral compass doesn’t always point due North and she has her own way of seeing the world and people around her. She wants wealth and consequence, but not only this as she proves when she doesn’t take up the interests of men who look on her beauty and vivacity with great interest. Susan is clever enough to see what people are about and even at a young age knows how to work them to her advantage even her staunch relations and the formidable Lady Catherine.
While Susan wasn’t very virtuous, she does have her own code and that includes doing what it takes to see her cousin Alicia find happiness even if it means outsmarting a snobbish acquaintance or two and launching a scandalous plan. I couldn’t wait to see what the daring Susan would do next.

Heather Tracy was a new to me narrator, but I thought she captured the youthful voices of Susan and her younger group as well as the older cast. She caught the right tone with Susan and the others as well as the overall feel of the book. The world of the book came alive with her narration and the production quality was excellent.

All in all, I found Susan as mischievous and enchanting as could be. The author did Austen’s character with an aplomb that Austen would give her sly wink of approval over. I dearly hope there is more to come for Susan and her merry adventures. Recommended to those who love stories set in the Regency world.