Whit Stillman's Lady Susan springs from unfinished Austen novella

Jane Austen's Lady Susan is cunning, charming and occasionally cruel — but the resourceful widow is lesser known than the characters who inhabit the worlds of Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. 

Lifelong Austen fan Whit Stillman gives the "lovable scoundrel" her due in a new film called Love & Friendship. The writer/director channeled the 18th century author to finish Lady Susan's story where Austen left off.

Stillman joins guest host Gill Deacon to discuss his creative adaptation of the unfinished Austen novella, how he came up with a title for the film, and why the present is more like the past than we realize. 

WEB EXTRA |  She's a fiend and an accomplished flirt. Watch Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan in the trailer for Love & Friendship.