Popularity of the epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is one written entirely of letters or diary entries. The epistolary format became popular in the 18th Century as letters were a key way of communicating of the time. Samuel Richardson was a popular author of the period and published two of the most popular epistolary novels of the time - Pamela (1740) and Clarissa (1749). Though perhaps the most famous epistolary novel is Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897).
Although the popularity of the epistolary novel fell out of fashion towards the end of the 18th Century, Jane Austen tried her hand at it with her early works. Her novella Lady Susan is in this format, and Elinor and Marianne was in this format before being developed into Sense and Sensibility.
Pride and Prejudice was entitled First Impressions when Jane started writing it, and it is believed she wrote this in the epistolary format too due to the large amount of key letters in the novel. Bridget Jones diary, however, is probably the most well known modern epistolary novel, and Helen Fielding took the inspiration from the plot of Pride and Prejudice.
The epistolary novel has it's limitations, as we don't get to witness the characters interacting with each other and it can often be a biased retelling of events but we do get to hear directly from a character's point of view. Jane cuts Lady Susan quite short and adds a conclusion with the humorous quote: "This correspondence, by a meeting between some of the parties and a separation between the others, could not, to the great detriment of the Post Office revenue, be continued longer".
