The Watsons by Jane Austen and completed by John Coates: A Review

The Watsons

by Jane Austen

Completed by John Coates

Source: local library

The Watsons was an unfinished manuscript left behind by Jane Austen. It has always caused us to wonder what would have happened had she finished it, so it was with delight that I found a very hard to find completion by John Coates. When I say hard to find I mean it’s out of print. I was lucky my library had a copy hiding in its midst’s.

Coates makes a change to our heroine’s name. Instead of calling her Emma he calls her Emily, which works just fine.

In the initial fragment we are led to understand that Emily had been raised by her Aunt who upon her second marriage went to Ireland effectively sending Emily back home to strangers. Mr. Watson is a sickly man who rarely leaves his room and Mrs. Watson is long since dead which is suggested to be the cause of Mr. Watson’s condition.

Emily comes from a large family---two brothers and four sisters. Her brother Robert is married to a simpering woman named Jane. The other brother Sam is practicing to be a doctor. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, is in essence the lady of the house seeing to all the needs of the parsonage. Penelope is the teasing, witty one and Margaret is vain and self absorbed. What a cast of characters!

Tom Musgrave is considered a flirt a la Willoughby or Wickham. He gets his just desserts when he marries Margaret Watson as he is sure to be miserable in life now. Lord Osborne is the wealthy lord who sets his eye on Emily and proposes to her twice (both time refused), but in a charming twist he finds his heart has been claimed elsewhere for some time. It is Mr. Howard who ultimately wins Emily’s heart despite him only being a clergyman---what is wealth and status to true love?

In other words this is a cast of characters that only Austen could have introduced.

Coates created a balance between Emily and her Aunt and their more prosperous status than that of her family. However it was suggested that Jane spoke to her sister Cassandra and explained that Emily’s father Mr. Watson was to die and she was to be dependent on her snipping sister-in-law and brother. As I knew of this I was saddened to see Coates deviate from that path, but then that is what makes it a completion because we can only speculate how Jane herself would have ended it.

Coates does an admirable job in keeping the transition between Austen’s fragment and his completion without any disasters. What is more is that every Janeite is sure to find similarities to other Austen characters in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe that even Jane herself would have been proud.

Final Recommendation: A book worth the read….if you can find a copy that is.

Have you read this completion or the one by Joan Aiken?

Austen Reads: Recommendation Monday: Darcy and Fitzwilliam by Karen Wasylowski

A book which I read and thoroughly loved was Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A tale of a Gentleman and an Officer by Karen Wasylowski. Before I implemented my book review policy for Austen related novels I had already reviewed this book. Click here to read that review.



As many of you know I want minor characters to get the spotlight and not just Darcy and Elizabeth. While Darcy and Elizabeth are present in this book it focuses more on the relationship between Darcy and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam (whom as we know I adore). Colonel Fitzwilliam gets a chance to shine. Yipee! I recommend this book as a must read of Austen Sequels.





 Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (February 1, 2011)


Language: English


ISBN-10: 1402245947


ISBN-13: 978-1402245947


Publishing Formats: Paperback and e-book


 
 
 
 
A gentleman in love cannot survive without his best friend...


Fitzwilliam Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam couldn't be more different, and that goes for the way each one woos and pursues the woman of his dreams. Darcy is quiet and reserved, careful and dutiful, and his qualms and hesitations are going to torpedo his courtship of Elizabeth. His affable and vivacious cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam is a military hero whose devil-may-care personality hides the torments within, until he finds himself in a passionate, whirlwind affair with a beautiful widow who won't hear of his honorable intentions.

Cousins, best friends, and sparring partners, Darcy and Fitzwilliam have always been there for each other. So it's no surprise when the only one who can help Darcy fix his botched marriage proposals is Fitzwilliam, and the only one who can pull Fitzwilliam out of an increasingly dangerous entanglement is Darcy...



Have you read this book? What did you think?



If you have not read this book, will you?

Later this week look for my blog post which will look at Bride and Prejudice the Bollywood version of Pride and Prejudice. :D

Hot Regency Find: Mr. Malcolm's List by Suzanne Allain



Buy on Amazon



Publisher: LeMoyne House (February 25, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0982368208

ISBN-13: 978-0982368206

Publishing Formats: paperback and e-book

The Honorable Mr. Malcolm has a secret. This elusive matrimonial prize, long the target of desperate debutantes and their matchmaking mothers, is well known for his fastidiousness. What is not well known is that he has a list of qualifications for his future bride. Can any woman hope to win the heart of such a hardened critic? Selina Dalton can only try her best. And when she begins to succeed, Jeremy Malcolm is not sure whether he has discovered the perfect woman... Or the perfect hoax.

I really enjoyed the book Incognito by the same author. This book sounds like a delightful comedic romp in the gentleman’s search for the perfect bride. I have enjoyed that Suzanne Allain is writing stories where the hero has romantic qualifications.

I’m putting this book into my to-be-read pile which is growing higher by the day.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Austen Reads: Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton

If you have not read my book review policy (link is at the top of the page) then you may not know that since I do write Jane Austen Fan Fiction I do not review Austen sequels unless requested by the author. It is a new policy, but I feel it is a fair one. However, that does not mean I cannot recommend Austen related books that I have read.

I will be posting an Austen related recommendation every Monday as a nice follow up to a Hot Regency Find.

I recommend Charlotte Collins and its accompanying short story Maria Lucas as a great Austen related read. Jennifer Becton is the fabulous author of these works. I always felt Charlotte Collins got the short end of the stick. Being married to Mr. Collins could not have been full of happiness. Jennifer Becton has done a extraordinary job giving Charlotte Collins the love and happiness she deserves. In addition, her sister, Maria Lucas, finds happiness too.

Jennifer Becton’s next book is going to center on Caroline Bingley and I cannot wait.

Charlotte Collins: A continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice



 Publisher: Whiteley Press (August 25, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1453740473

ISBN-13: 978-1453740477

Available formats: Paperback of E-book

When Charlotte Lucas married Mr. Collins in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, she believed herself to be fortunate indeed. Her nuptials gained her a comfortable home and financial security. If she acquired these things at the expense of true love, it did not matter one whit. To Charlotte, love in marriage was nothing more than a pleasant coincidence.


As the years of her marriage dragged by, Charlotte began to question her idea of love as she suffered continual embarrassment at her husband's simpering and fawning manners. When Mr. Collins dies, finally relieving everyone of his tedious conversation, she must work feverishly to secure her income and home. She gives no further thought to the prospect of love until her flighty sister Maria begs her to act as her chaperone in place of their ailing parents. Hoping to prevent Maria from also entering an unhappy union, Charlotte agrees, and they are quickly thrust into a world of country dances, dinner parties, and marriageable gentlemen.


But when an unprincipled gentleman compromises Charlotte's reputation, her romantic thoughts disappear at the prospect of losing her independence. As she struggles to extricate herself from her slander, her situation reveals both the nature of each gentleman and of true love.

 Maria Lucas: A Short Story in the Personages of Pride & Prejudice Collection





Format: Kindle Edition

Publisher: Whiteley Press (March 5, 2011)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Language: English

ASIN: B004QTOETO

After a great deal of romantic strife, Maria Lucas finds herself married to Mr. Jonas Card in a desperate attempt to extricate herself and her sister Charlotte from a dire financial situation. Mr. Card, however, truly loves Maria and has vowed to woo her. Alas, she views him only in friendly terms. But when it seems that Mr. Card’s feelings have changed, Maria sets out to discover why. And through a series of unexpected events, Mr. Card succeeds in wooing his wife without saying a word.

“Maria Lucas” is a post script to the novel Charlotte Collins: A Continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. As such, it contains minor spoilers, but it can be read as a stand-alone piece.

This is a short story (approximately 5,000 words) and was formerly titled "Maria's Romance."

I hope you will enjoy this blog feature as well as Sundays Hot Regency Find.