Question: Who wrote the novel that Whit Stillman's newest film is based on?
Context: John Whitney "Whit" Stillman (born January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director known for his 1990 film "Metropolitan", which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the 1998 romantic drama "The Last Days of Disco".  Stillman's newest film "Love & Friendship" premiered in January 2016, starring Kate Beckinsale playing a widow trying to arrange two marriages, one for herself and one for her daughter. Metropolitan is the debut film by director and screenwriter Whit Stillman.  It received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.  The film is often considered the first of a trilogy of Stillman films, followed by "Barcelona" (1994, but written before "Metropolitan") and "The Last Days of Disco" (1998). Damsels in Distress (original title: Violet Wister's Damsels in Distress and Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress) is an American comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman and starring Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, and Analeigh Tipton.  It is set at a United States East Coast university.  First screened at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, the film opened in New York and Los Angeles on April 6, 2012. Barcelona is a 1994 comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman and set in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain).  The movie stars Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman and Mira Sorvino. The third edition of the Champs-Élysées Film Festival was held from 11 to 17 June 2014, with actors Jacqueline Bisset and Bertrand Tavernier as Honorary Presidents and Keanu Reeves, Agnès Varda, Whit Stillman and Mike Figgis as Guests of Honor.  More than 120,000 people attended the Festival, with more than 110 films screened.  Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz's "" was shown at the Closing Ceremony.  Along with its competitive Official Selections for American feature-length films, American Shorts and French Shorts, the Festival presented a wide selection of important American and French movie premieres, the TCM Cinema Essentials, a thirteen-film selection of American classics, and the Great French Classics, a five-film selection.  Both Honorary Presidents held masterclasses, and the Guests of Honor presented each a selection of their respective filmographies.  Three Audience Prizes (Best American Feature-Length Film, Best American Short Film, Best French Short Film), a Bloggers Jury Award (Best American Feature-Length Film) and a Youth Jury Award (Favorite Film in the TCM Cinema Essentials Selection) were presented during the Closing Ceremony, held at the Publicis Cinema.  Along with the "US in Progress" program, a new event targeted at industry professionals was held alongside the Festival: titled "Paris Coproduction Village" it brought together 12 international feature film projects in development looking for French and European partners, as well as 6 projects from the Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation Residence. Morfydd Clark is a Welsh actress.  She trained at The Drama Centre, London, leaving in her final term to play the title role in Saunders Lewis' play "Blodeuwedd" with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru.  She has appeared in "Violence and Son" at the Royal Court, as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" at the Donmar Warehouse.  She played Frederica Vernon in Whit Stillman's film "Love & Friendship". Love & Friendship is a 2016 period comedy film written and directed by Whit Stillman.  Based on Jane Austen's epistolary novel "Lady Susan", written ca. 1794, the film stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, and Stephen Fry.  The film follows recently widowed Lady Susan in her intrepid and calculating exploits to secure suitably wealthy husbands for her daughter and herself.  Although adapted from "Lady Susan", the film was produced under the borrowed title of Austen's juvenile story "Love and Freindship" ["sic"] . Allison Rutledge-Parisi, known during her acting career as Allison Parisi, is an attorney, and a former chief administrative officer for Kaplan, Inc., and a former actress.  She is known for her role as Jane Clark in Whit Stillman's critically acclaimed film "Metropolitan" (1990). Oslo, August 31st (Norwegian: Oslo, 31.  august ) is a 2011 Norwegian drama film directed by Joachim Trier.  It is loosely based on the novel "Will O' the Wisp" by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle.  It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.  It won the prizes for Best Film and Best Cinematography at the 2011 Stockholm International Film Festival; jury president Whit Stillman described the film as "a perfectly painted portrait of a generation".  It was one of three films on the Norwegian shortlist for submissions to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Last Days of Disco is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman, and loosely based on his travels and experiences in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including Studio 54.  The film concerns a group of Ivy League and Hampshire College graduates falling in and out of love in the disco scene of New York City, in the "very early 1980s".  Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale have the lead roles.
Answer: Jane Austen