I am hitting it off with an Austen book, and it is quite an unusual one.
I had never heard of The Watsons, but when I was making my selection for The Classics Club, I stumbled upon Jane Austen’s unfinished works, and this was at the top of the list, hence I said why not start with it?
I read Pride and Prejudice a long time ago when I was at school, mind you. This is almost two decades ago, and for the life of me, I can’t remember it I know what the story is about more or less, but I don’t recall reading it, nor what I was feeling I was only 16 or 17 at the time, maybe even younger, it was a school project, and as we all know, these school endeavours tend to stay buried and forgotten in a dark corner of our brain full od cobwebs and dust…, so reading Austen now was like a totally new experience for me.
My rating:
Synopsis:
Left impoverished upon the death of her aunt, Emma Watson has no option but to be reunited with her estranged father and siblings. Initially delighted with her new life—including the fashionable society balls to which she now has access—Emma soon realizes that her family harbors many ill feelings, not least those springing from the sisters’ hopes—and disappointments—in snaring a husband. So when the eligible and suitably rich Tom Musgrove begins to transfer his affections from her sister Margaret to Emma, the result can only be further sibling rivalry and unrest. A delightful, exquisitely drawn portrait of family life, The Watsons is Jane Austen at her storytelling best. Author of the masterpieces Pride and Prejudice and Emma, Jane Austen (1775–1817) is one of the most beloved novelists of all time.
- Pages: 100
- Genre: Classics, Fiction
- Publication date: First published January 1, 1805
- Format: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover
- Source: Owned
PURCHASE LINKS:
AMAZON
KOBO
THE REVIEW:
This is one of Austen’s unfinished novels, and there is something fascinating about a work that has been abandoned by an author and never completed; you keep wondering where the story would have gone, and so many other questions that we will never get any answers…
I did some research on this one, and some speculate that Jane left some works unfinished around the time her father passed away in 1805; overtaken by grief, she had to abandon these works. Throughout the years, many authors have tried to give this story a conclusion, even her own niece, Catherine Anne Hubback, who finished it first in 1850 under the title The Younger Sister. But regardless of how many authors tried or will try to continue The Watsons, the fact is we will never know what road Austen would have taken with this one.
I listened to the free audiobook on Audible at the time, and we followed Emma Watson and her return to the family home. Sent to be raised by her wealthy aunt, she is now reunited with her immediate family after her aunt remarries and is now facing a completely different environment than what she was used to.
Austen is painting a vivid picture of the social pressure of marriage for convenience and how women are supposed to do and say, and behave in a certain way, as it was expected back then in the 19th century. The commentary is witty and well-written, and it definitely draws you in. The characters are well crafted and multidimensional, and I love Emma and how witty and sharp she is as a woman at that time. It really is a pity that we will never know who she ends up with and how her relationship with her sisters and her father goes.
Overall, it was a solid 3-star read for me, and I am planning on reading the niece’s book just to see if it will feel true to Austen’s voice and how she imagined the characters and the plot further.
Have you read this one? If yes, let me know your thoughts. If not, would you give it a go?
Lin's Perspective 
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