Lady Susan / The Watsons / Sanditon

by Jane Austen, Margaret Drabble (Introduction)

Together, these three works - one novel unpublished in her lifetime and two unfinished fragments - reveal Jane Austen's development as a great artist.

Lady Susan, with its wicked, beautiful, intelligent and energetic heroine, is a sparkling melodrama which takes its tone from the outspoken and robust eighteen century. Written later, and probably abandoned after her father's death, The Watsons is a tantalizing and highly delightful story whose vitality and optimism centre on the marital prospects of the Watson sisters in a small provincial town. Sanditon, Jane Austen's last fiction, is set in a seaside town and its themes concern the new speculative consumer society and foreshadow the great social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Romance, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, British Literature

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1817

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

for many years, i knew about this book, and owned this book, and desperately wanted to read this book, and yet i was unable to make myself do so.

because it was crucial to my well-being and ability to remain a human person that i was able to pretend that i haven't read everything jane austen ever wrote.

but after years of strength and determination, i was no longer able to resist. i read this. and now i'm done with jane forever. unless we make some serious frankenstein-esque scientific progress, or someone commits some believable literary fraud, or a huge discovery is made in the desk in the austen museum by nicolas cage and a lemon juice code...i will never read anything new from ms. austen.

and to that i say: NOOOOOOOOO!

i did not know this is straight up 10 chapters. this is approximately 1/6 of a jane austen book. the beginning sixth, where we're meeting our various clowns and the love interest has done the plot equivalent of walking past an open door in the background of an irrelevant conversation.

i didn't know what little time i had.

and still this managed to be sharp and funny and i desperately wish it was, you know, an actual book.

send any genies you discover my way.

bottom line: i will never be the same again.

3.5

[✨ A ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published after the death of Jane Austen by her brother Henry. It includes the novella Lady Susan and two fragments of books that Austen was working on before her death.

Lady Susan

The novella is told in the form of letters about a woman called Lady Susan who recently lost her husband and is now on the hunt for a new one.

- This novella was amazing. It was unlike any of Austen's other stories. Lady Susan is scandalous and not a good person but the writing (as usual) and style was so captivating — i was living for the drama!!

The Watsons

Emma Watson returns home, after being fostered by her aunt for years, where she reacquaints herself with her family and her town.

- This snippet was so good and all the characters seemed so intriguing. I got Persuasion vibes from it and I kinda hate that i read this because now i will never know what happens next 😭.

Sanditon

A short snippet of a story set in a seaside town.

- Honestly this story was so short i cant even give an opinion on it but I'm now really eager to watch the adaptation mini series and see how the directors built onto the foundation JA left us with.


If you have never read Austen before do not start with this book. This is for Austen lovers who mourn the fact that she only wrote six books before her death and crave for even the smallest snippet of her beautiful writing.

[leynes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The person who edited this bind-up edition of these three fragments seemed hella weird and sometimes even rude in her commentary of Austen's work, so I'm not sure if I would particularly recommend this Penguin Clothbound edition, however, my rating is only reflective of Austen's work, not the introduction and notes!

Lady Susan (5 stars)

A new favorite. Lady Susan is such a sassy, petty, conniving little character. I can't believe that young Jane chose her as a protagonist. She's almost the exact opposite of all other Austen heroines. Lady Susan would've most likely been the villain in any other Austen story. She has affairs with married men, is generally a flirt, doesn't care for the feelings and wishes of her daughter, is overall quite egotistical and has no fucks left to give. I honestly have to stan!

The Watsons (4 stars)

Truly a promising start for a Jane Austen novel. I cannot believe how much plot and momentum Austen put into these first 60 pages. This was so exciting and fast-paced. I would've loved to see Miss Emma Watson as a heroine, see her refusal of Lord Osborne, her deflection of Tom Musgrove, and her stirred feelings for Mr Howard. It would've been so sweet, and fun. Sure, Emma is a bit of a Mary Sue, and it's not clear why all of these men of power and money would fall for this poor, foreign girl, BUT I DON'T CARE. I loved it!

Sanditon (2 stars)

The only disappointing story of the bunch but I'm not even that mad. This fragment couldn't convince me because I found most characters rather dull and not much happened in these first 60 pages. Sanditon, the seaside resort, could've been such a cool and usual setting for an Austen novel but alas! we don't see much of it in this first draft of the beginning. Austen's writing definitely felt more mature, and it's fitting that this was more slow-paced, but I'm not sure if Sanditon would've blossomed into a new Austen favorite the way Lady Susan has or The Watsons most likely would've.

[Snjez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Susan

I don't get why Emma was supposed to be a character that no one would much like, when there is Lady Susan. 😅 She is flirtatious, selfish, manipulative and unapologetic. For the record, I love Emma and I was equally invested in reading about Lady Susan. Such a compelling and well-written character. All the female characters are great, but I do have opinions about male characters. I think I'm used to someone with more integrity, like Mr Darcy or Mr Knightley, while here Lady Susan has all the men wrapped around her little finger. 😅

The story is told in epistolary format, letters written back and forth between the characters. It's like reading from multiple POVs and you can really learn a lot about their personalities and see how differently they experience the same situations. I loved that. When the letters stop, we are just given a short account of what happens with the characters in the end.


The Watsons

This story has such a great premise. We follow Emma Watson, who was raised by her aunt, and at the beginning of the story she returns to her family, after her aunt remarries. It was really interesting to read about the dynamic between Emma and her family members, and also other characters she meets. She is a lovely character, considerate, and she seems like someone who can stand up for herself and can't be pressured into doing things. I loved the whole scene at the ball and I would have loved to read a whole novel about her. At least we get a short summary in the end of how the story should have or could have ended.

I need to include an interesting part of a conversation between Emma and her sister Elizabeth.

*Emma talking: '… I would rather be a teacher at a school (and I can think of nothing worse) than marry a man I did not like'.
'I would rather do anything than be a teacher at a school-' said her sister.

Well, thank you both. 😅


Sanditon

This one frustrated me the most. Why? Because Charlotte and Sidney don't even meet! Now I'll have to watch the TV series, even though I said I wouldn't watch something that Jane Austen didn't write. 😅

As with the previous books, the story and the characters grabbed me from the start. I liked the setting, the cast of characters that we were introduced to, and I really liked Charlotte. Similarly to Emma Watson, or Elizabeth Bennet, she has strong opinions and speaks her mind. I loved that. Sadly, the story stops abruptly in chapter 12, with no additional information. I did really enjoy what I've read. There's so much potential here.

[Jennifer (Insert Lit Pun)]

Why don’t people talk about Lady Susan more? I mean I know it’s Jane Austen but I still didn’t expect it to be this brazenly fun.
The Watsons and Sanditon…surprised by how depressing these were to read. I thought I’d steeled myself to the idea of them being fragments, but turns out I hadn’t fully. Still thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m glad to have these characters now populating my head, but mostly they just made me sad and resentful of Regency-era medicine. But at least now I can watch the new Sanditon adaptation, which promises to be decadently terrible.

[Maja - BibliophiliaDK ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH YES, ANOTHER AUSTEN FIX, JUST WHAT I NEEDED!

✨ Popsugar Reading Challenge 2019✨
✨✨A book published posthumously✨✨

When researching for this years Popsugar Reading Challenge there was no doubt in my mind that I had to read one of Jane Austen's posthumous novels, because she is a favourite author of mine. Luckily I found this gem which contains 3 of her posthumous novels! Lucky me, I say!!

Blurp
The Watsons is the unfinished story of Emma Watson, who returns home to her family after being fostered by an aunt and now has to re-aquiant herself with her family.
Lady Susan is an epistolary novel about the newly widowed Lady Susan, who is on the prowl for a second advantageous marriage.
Sandition follows the life of a wide cast of characters in an up-and-coming seaside town.

THE THINGS I LOVED 🧡

Jane Austen 🧡: From the very first sentence I felt at ease and at home. Austen's writing is so witty, up-beat and so utterly recognisable that it felt like rediscovering an old acquaintance.

The variety: The more known Austen novels all pretty much follow the same pattern and the same topics. These three, however, truly showed the variety of Austen's genius. They were so different in not only writing and subject, but in feeling and sentiment as well. It truly showed me, that had the world not lost this formidable woman so early, we could have had many more delightful and insightful books from her hand.

Lady Susan: This book in particular was a deviation from the usual Jane Austen novel. We are used to Austen's heroine's being witty, bright, righteous and kind. Lady Susan, however, was none of these things. She was cold, calculating, manipulative and a flirt. But also her circumstances were different from teh usual virginal Austen women. Lady Susan was widow with a teenage daughter. And then of course there was the style that this book was written in - letters! Quite different from any other Austen novel.

"I congratulate you and Mr. Vernon on being about to receive into your family, the most accomplished coquette in England."
- Mr. De Courcy, Lady Susan

The Watsons: My favourite of this collection was without a doubt the unfinished The Watsons simply because it had all the makings of a classical, witty and romantic Austen book. Emma Watson was witty, bright, kind and beautiful. She moves in good society, has many sisters and the attention of some admirable men, each in their own way. I so wish this novel had been finished. Luckily, Austen had actually told her sister, Cassandra, how she intended the book to end, and I can only say, that reading what she imagined would happen only made me wish even more, that she had actually gone through with it!

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[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Jane Austen completist, having read all six full-length novels authored by her (some of them being reread multiple times): Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. However, one novel (or rather, novella) that almost always escapes public attention is ‘Lady Susan’. At 180 pages, it is not considered by many to be a full-length work but more of a novella, and is hence never listed among the above-mentioned renowned novels.

‘Lady Susan’ happens to be the only epistolary novel written by Jane Austen in her adulthood. (Some of her younger works collected under ‘Juvenilia’ include a couple of epistolary stories.) An epistolary novel, just in case you aren’t aware of the term, is a novel where the entire story is revealed through correspondence from/between the characters. The usual form of correspondence is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings, blogs, and e-mails have also been incorporated into epistolary books. (For instance, 'The Martian' by Andy Weir which mainly uses v-log entries)

The epistolary novel was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries but due to much satirical ridicule, it slowly fell out of use in the late 18th century. Jane too abandoned the epistolary structure after ‘Lady Susan’. Some think that her lost novel ‘First Impressions’, which was redrafted to become ‘Pride and Prejudice’, may have been epistolary; after all, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ contains an unusual number of letters quoted in full and some play a critical role in the plot. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was also originally written in the epistolary form.

Now let’s come to ‘Lady Susan’. Supposedly written in 1794 but not published until 1871, this lovely little novella describes the schemes of the eponymous lead. If you think Emma was the most selfish of all lead female Austen characters, wait till you meet Lady Susan. Devious to the core, her only concern is with establishing her own comforts even if at the cost of her own daughter’s happiness. She is not your typical goody-two-shoes Victorian heroine but a sugar-coated Machiavelli who keeps trying to manipulate everyone and everything as per her requirement. Being an epistolary novel, the entire book except for the last chapter unfurls through letters written by some character to another.

Considering that Jane Austen wrote this at about 20 years of age with the lead character at age 35, it's really an undervalued piece of writing. It’s amazing to see how the virginal Austen portrayed a villainous heroine without having even experienced the brutalities of the world.

The only downside to the book is that aforementioned last chapter. The story goes that Jane wrote all the letter parts at 20, kept the idea of the book aside thereafter, and some years later, in a desire to complete the book, wrote the final chapter. That time lag is pretty evident in the hurried nature of that chapter, the sole purpose of which is to tie up everything together and end the story somehow. This results in an abrupt, rushed ending, deviating from the overall flow and yes, affecting your reading experience too. If you can forgive this flaw, Lady Susan will work its charms on you.

Jane Austen never submitted ‘Lady Susan’ for publication. Maybe she just wrote it as an experiment, or maybe she didn’t consider it a good enough story. No one will ever know her thoughts about this book. But reading this novel is an insightful experience into the mind of the young Austen, who is still a hugely popular and beloved author more than 200 years after her death.

The only movie adaptation of Lady Susan, retitled ‘Love & Friendship’ after Austen's juvenile work of that name, stars Kate Beckinsale in the titular role. While not a box office hit, it received critical acclaim and is considered among the better Jane Austen screen adaptations. In other words, safe to watch. :D

Fun Fact: 'Love and Freindship' [sic] is actually the name of one of Austen's short stories in the Juvenilia collection.

Another Fun Fact: The manuscript of Austen's Lady Susan is the only surviving complete draft of any of her novels.

My beautiful paperback copy of the book (Isn't that cover delightful?) has two more Austen works included. Here’s a very brief insight into them:

The Watsons - A book that Jane started in 1805, then abandoned after the death of her father. The few chapters she had written show her usual ability to build up the characters. It is regretful that she didn’t complete this book. It would have been a great read. The story is a bit like a mix of Sense & Sensibility and Emma, but as it's incomplete, we shall never know what Austen planned for it.

Sanditon - Begun by Jane a few months before her death, Sanditon shows Jane's obsession with good health at that stage of her illness. With a good start to the story, the book uses the then-prevailing ideas of the benefits of seaside places to build up this place called Sanditon, which is on its way to being the ultimate coastal town for health care. With just eleven chapters written before she abandoned it due to worsening health, one can’t really pass any comment on Sanditon except for wondering what a loss it was to Janeites.



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[The Books Blender · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'è poco da fare: Jane Austen è una specie di sigillo di garanzia!
Ogni sua opera è affascinate e avvincente e coinvolgente… anche quelle incompiute!

Ho apprezzato molto Lady Susan, romanzo particolare nel 'palinsesto' della Austen in quanto scritto sotto forma di epistolario.
La protagonista è diversa dalle eroine cui siamo abituati: egocentrica, egoista, vendicativa, ma tremendamente intelligente, sagace e abile nel manipolare l'animo altrui. Alla fine, direi, tutto è bene quel che finisce bene, ma è una lettura avvincente.

'I Watson' e 'Sanditon' non sono da meno e è impossibile non notare gli echi di 'Orgoglio e Pregiudizio' o dell''Abbazia di Northanger' o di 'Mansfield Park'.

Purtroppo, però, queste due opere sono incompiute e, quindi, lasciano tanta tristezza al pensiero di come la Austen avrebbe, alla fine, potuto aggiustare queste storie e consegnarle a noi lettori.
Sono convinta che anche queste sarebbero state dei capolavori!

[Karen· · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkable that the grease stained pages found down the back of the sofa or stuffed into a drawer or still on the desktop when Jane Austen died should be so entrancing 200 years later. And Margaret Drabble's intro is judicious and knowledgeable.

I have now read almost (but not quite) everything that JA wrote; her Juvenilia would make me a 'completist'. Horrible word. It sounds like some Orwellian newspeak term for someone who goes round co-ercing people into committing suicide.

She may well have been right to abandon The Watsons as it is a bit samey, P&P all over again, but oh boy would I have loved to read Sanditon. There are all the signs of a fascinating take on the changeover from visiting friends or family, or being formally introduced to their friends and family, to the commercial business of tourism.

[Sarah Bookmarked · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Watsons 2,5/5
Lady Susan 3,5/5
Sanditon 4/5

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read through them but nothing that becomes my new favorite Austen

[Mónica Cordero Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me he divertido mucho releyendo y recordando la novela epistolar de Lady Susan.
Los Watson, me ha parecido bastante lúgubre y oscura, teniendo en cuenta como escribía Jane Austen. Parece que está llena de tristeza.
Y me ha encantado lo poco que tenemos de Sanditon, una pena que este inconclusa.
Imprescindible para los fans de Jane Austen.
A mí me ha encantado.

[Amanda B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5🌟 rounded up!

[Kathleen Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watching the absurd miniseries prompted me to reread Sanditon. It's not a book I know well because reading it usually makes me sad, knowing why she didn't finish it.

This time, for some reason, I did not have that reaction. Perhaps I can thank the miniseries. What I chiefly noticed is how funny it is, and how razor-sharp its insights about people. Nor am I the first or the last person to notice the irony of Austen, already suffering from the mysterious illness that would kill her, is spending her last months on earth imagining energetic hypochondriacs at a health spa. Well, irony. She was always good at that.

[Melcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read everything Austen had done, and that included the three stories of Lady Susan, The Watson (unfinished) and Sanditon (also unfinished).

Lady Susan has a great plot idea and I love the epistolary form but you can see the ending was a bit rushed and overall the story isn't as polished as it could have been. The Watson started well, and you can really feel some similarities to Pride and Prejudice (maybe that's why it was discontinued). I really did not enjoy Sanditon, to my surprise, and skipped most of it.

It was actually quite depressing to read an unfinished story. Austen apparently told Cassandra (her sister or cousin, I can't remember) the planned ending for the Watson, so that was great to at least know the direction the story would have taken if it has been finished.

These three stories should be read in an edition that has some sort of introduction to give more context and information, I don't think you should read them on their own.

[Avery Liz Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tre piccoli gioielli

Quando Jane Austen scrive il suo primo romanzo compiuto, Lady Susan, che sarà pubblicato nel 1871 ad opera del nipote dell’autrice, ha solo 19 anni e i grandi capolavori che le concederanno eterna gloria sono ancora lontani (anche se non troppo), eppure questo romanzo breve, luminoso e divertentissimo sa già catturare il lettore e presenta tutte le caratteristiche che di lì a poco, affinate e sviluppate, renderanno indimenticabili opere come Ragione e sentimento e Orgoglio e pregiudizio: personaggi accuratamente ed efficacemente caratterizzati, stile terso e smagliante, adorabili quadretti di vita della borghesia di campagna nel ‘700 inglese, un’ironia elegante, ma affilata e infallibile nel colpire piccole manie, desideri, comportamenti e convenzioni sociali.
La protagonista che dà nome al romanzo non è una giovane eroina alle prese con avventure e disavventure sentimentali, ma una vedova non più giovanissima, affascinante, seducente e senza scrupoli, che pur di conquistare il benessere economico e un posto di rilievo in società è pronta a tutto, tessendo subdole trame e complotti ai danni di odiate rivali e ingenui signorotti di campagna e coinvolgendo nei suoi piani matrimoniali perfino la figlia, la dolce Frederica.
La narrazione è in forma epistolare, la stessa struttura tipicamente settecentesca che di lì a poco Jane Austen sceglierà per Elinor e Marianne, prima stesura di Ragione e sentimento, e lo scambio di lettere coinvolge un buon numero di personaggi: dunque gli stessi episodi sono spesso narrati da più punti di vista e ciascuno di essi, inevitabilmente limitato e parziale, ne svela lati e aspetti particolari, a dimostrazione, con grande modernità, della complessità del reale, della varietà di angolazioni dal quale esso può essere osservato e giudicato e della facilità con cui l’uomo può essere tratto in inganno al suo cospetto.
Più vicino al modello dei grandi romanzi austeniani è invece I Watson, che l’autrice iniziò e abbandonò tra il 1804 e il 1805, in un periodo cupo per la famiglia Austen, segnato dalle difficoltà economiche e dalla morte del padre di Jane: le scarne vicende di questo romanzo lasciato in sospeso ruotano infatti intorno a un’eroina tipicamente austeniana, Emma Watson, fanciulla amabile e graziosa, di buona famiglia ma priva di mezzi e, come la Fanny Price di Mansfield Park o l’Elizabeth Bennet di Orgoglio e pregiudizio, costretta a vivere tra amici e parenti a lei inferiori nella mente, nei modi e nell’educazione. Il matrimonio è l’unica soluzione per sottrarsi a un futuro di povertà, ma Emma, al contrario delle sue intraprendenti sorelle maggiori, è troppo onesta e intelligente per accalappiare un marito ricco all’unico scopo di non diventare zitella e non esiterà ad allontanare ricchi pretendenti in attesa di incontrare il vero amore.
Nonostante sia poco più che un abbozzo di romanzo lasciato incompiuto, I Watson colpisce per la forza dei personaggi e la vivacità della narrazione e tutto lascia pensare che se la Austen avesse deciso di portarlo a termine avremmo oggi tra le mani un ennesimo capolavoro.
A interrompere la stesura di Sanditon, l’ultima opera alla quale l’autrice lavorò, fu invece l’aggravarsi della malattia che la colpì negli ultimi anni di vita e che l’avrebbe condotta alla tomba. La vicenda è ambientata in una piccola e amena località affacciata sul mare, Sanditon, che l’intraprendente ed entusiasta – o forse sciocco e ingenuo – Mr. Parker, proprietario terriero del luogo, vuole a tutti i costi trasformare in una stazione balneare alla moda, ed è raccontata per lo più dal punto di vista di Charlotte Heywood, ragazza di campagna che trascorre un soggiorno a Sanditon. Tuttavia i pochi capitoli che possediamo danno l’idea di una vicenda corale, nella quale ciascun personaggio, che come in tutti i romanzi della Austen sembra delineato con fini colpi di scalpello fino ad emergere letteralmente dalla carta, reclama la sua parte di attenzione. Tutti sembrano ossessionati da un’idea, un obiettivo o una mania di sterniana memoria e l’autrice, attraverso lo sguardo vivace e acuto di Charlotte, si diverte immensamente a prenderli in giro: Mr. Parker, che impegna tutte le sue energie, il suo denaro e il suo tempo nel progetto utopistico di rendere grande e famosa la piccola, modesta Sandition; lady Denham, che dovrebbe essere la sua compagna di speculazione e invece è paradossalmente attaccata ad ogni spicciolo; il nipote di lady Denham, sir Edward, che come Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey commette l’errore di confondere la fantasia e la letteratura con la realtà e pur di trasformarsi in un eroe da romanzo ambisce a conquistare una fanciulla bella e povera della quale, forse, non gli importa davvero. E cosa dire del fratello e delle sorelle di Mr. Parker, afflitti da una serie di terribili mali immaginari che naturalmente nessun dottore è in grado di curare? Sebbene gravemente malata, Jane Austen non può far tacere la sua ironia e contro chi avrebbe potuto scagliarla con piena efficacia in quel momento della sua vita se non contro una sfilza di malati immaginari da far invidia all’Argante di Molière?
Tutti costoro e molti altri ruotano intorno a Sandition, vero e proprio centro della narrazione, e a Charlotte, che con la sua ironia e il suo buon senso ricorda un po’ Elizabeth Bennet e non può fare a meno di sorridere osservando una simile banda di bizzarri personaggi. Forse anche Charlotte, come le altre eroine austeniane, era destinata al matrimonio e forse l’avremmo accompagnata fino all’altare se solo Jane Austen avesse potuto portare a termine la sua storia.

[Türkan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of Jane Austen contains three short stories, where two of them are unfinished works by Austen.

Lady Susan
Lady Susan was quite interesting, and a very different heroine than the usual Austen ladies. Lady Susan was written in the form of letter entries, and for some reason it made it all the more dramatic. In the story we meet Lady Susan who is recently widowed, and is now on the hunt for a new husband. Lady Susan is very saucy and very scandalous, and very unabashed. It made me giggle while reading. She's not all sweet and funny though, and the writing style made the story captivating and dramatic. So I enjoyed this one!

Sanditon
This was SO short, I'm not even sure I can form an opinion on it.

Sanditon was a very short snippet of a story set in a seaside town.

Just as the story was begining, it ended. Now I can't wait to watch the mini series, to see what happened to the story.

The Watsons
In this short story we meet Emma Watson, who returns home after being fostered by her aunt for years. She is now back with a family that she doesn't really know.

This story seemed to have a lot of potential, just as Austen's full length novels. This was Austen's last piece before she passed away. I would've loved to see what would've become of the story.

I loved Lady Susan the most out of the three, but really wanted The Watsons to be longer. For the overall enjoyment of all three I probably end on 3.5 ⭐️

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three elegantly written novellas in which two were unfinished ("Sanditon" and "The Watsons"). Lady Susan is vintage Austen, the story of a self centered aristocratic widow who is determined to marry well, and to pawn off her vulnerable daughter to a man she doesn't love. The Watsons is a bit disjointed, and harder to follow because it really is a rough sketch of a book that really reads like a first draft that is unfinished. It seems to be a rehash of plots, characters, and ideas found in famous published works such as "Sense and Sensibility", "Persuasion" and "Emma".

"Sanditon" is delightful departure from other comedies of manners about relationships. Instead, its a witty look at a bunch of quirky individuals that live in a seaside town. Part of the reason I read these works is because I found out about the sexed-up "Sanditon" PBS adaptation complete with a nude Theo James swimming out of the ocean with his cute bum.

[Macarena (followed that rabbit) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a pity Jane Austen couldn't finish this novel. It seems so promising! It got my whole attention from the first chapter. Peculiar, interesting and amusing characters along with that splendid coast.

[☠tsukino☠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

davvero un peccato!!

Lady Susan è il mio idolo, peccato che tutti i suoi sotterfugi non abbiano avuto successo. Sembra il personaggio più negativo, in realtà è il più genuino; lei ammette di manipolare le persone, gli eventi, al contrario di tutti gli altri che lo fanno, ma pensano di essere persone migliori.

I Watson ha molti punti un comune con Orgoglio e Pregiudizio, ne sembra proprio una prima versione.

Sanditon è una storia molto particolare, dove la maggior parte dei personaggi è bizzarra e assurda. Purtroppo è interrotta sul più bello. È davvero un peccato che non si saprà mai come la Austen l’avrebbe terminata. Il rammarico, per un fato che ha portato via così presto quest’autrice, è immenso.
Quando leggo libri come questo mi ricordo della differenza che c’è tra loro e i libri spazzatura, ciò nonostante questi ultimi continuano a piacermi ^. ^

[Alba Turunen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Estrellitas. Que pena más grande que Jane Austen no pudiera terminar algunos de sus libros. Éste ejemplar recopilatorio de algunos de sus escritos trae tres relatos:

"Lady Susan", único de estos relatos, escrito de forma epistolar y del que se hizo la película "Amor y amistad" hace unos años. Afortunadamente terminado, cuenta el episodio de la malvada viuda alegre Lady Susan y sus devaneos amorosos.

Otro es "Los Watson", libro inacabado donde conocemos a ésta familia y suponemos que la hermana menor, Emma Watson es la protagonista, en el momento en que se presenta en sociedad.

El tercero de los relatos es "Sanditon", la novela inacaba de Austen (de la que aún me he reservado de ver la serie de TV, pero caerá en breve). La protagonista es Charlotte Heywood, una joven dama del campo, invitada por unos amigos de sus padres, los Parker, a la nueva ciudad balneario de Sanditon. El señor Parker es uno de los grandes beneficiarios de Sanditon y está dispuesto a convertirlo en un nuevo Bath. Éste libro me ha recordado bastante a "La abadía de Northanger", de verdad es una pena que la autora no pudiera terminarlo, y miedo me da ver la interpretación y final que han podido darle a la serie de televisión.

De nuevo, una joyita de Jane Austen que ha publicado RBA en una edición de lujo, merece la pena leerla.

[Yukino · Rating 4 out of 5]

LETTURA DI GRUPPO E&L: classico di aprile 2019

Mi mancava la Austen. E grazie a questo gdl ho recuperato questa raccolta di storie, di cui due incompiute.
Lady Susan mi è molto piaciuto. E' l'unico concluso, e la protagonista è molto diversa dai soliti modelli della Austen. Scirtto in forma epistolare, mi ha intrigato. Pensavo mi potesse annoiare e invece in questo modo abbiamo potuto leggere tutti i punti di vista dei personaggi. Bello davvero.

I Watson. Carino carino davvero, peccato non sia stato finito. Abbiamo saputo come la Austen aveva intenzione di procedere con la storia, da una sua lettera ad amici (se non ricordo male). Mi ha ricordato molto Orgoglio e pregiudzio. ^^

Sanditon. Anche questa storia è incompiuta. Peccato. Se all'inizio l'ho trovata un pò noisetta, poi ha iniziato ad intrigarmi. E i malati immaginari della Austen mi fanno morire dal ridere.

Nel complesso le tre storie mi sono piaicute. Peccato davvero che non siano state finite.
Per gli amanti della Austen che non vogliono perdersi nulla di quello che ha scritto.

[Simona B · Rating 4 out of 5]

"C'è qualcosa di piacevole nei sentimenti che si lasciano manovrare tanto facilmente. Non che abbia invidia, né vorrei, per nulla al mondo, averne di simili, ma si dimostrano utili quando si desidera influenzare le passioni di un altro."

Oh, Jane, immensa, incredibile, dolcissima Jane: no so cosa darei per avere un altro tuo romanzo, o per poter rileggere tutti i tuoi romanzi per la prima volta. Cosa darei, seriamente, non lo so, perché la ricompensa non sarebbe in alcun modo quantificabile.

Non sono capace di spiegarvi qual'è stata la mia sofferenza nell'accingermi a leggere queste sue opere. Non tanto Lady Susan -che, per inciso, è carinissimo!-, ma con I Watson e Sanditon è stata pura sofferenza. Iniziare a perdermi nel vortice della storia e dover restare sospesa a metà, esiste qualcosa di più ingiusto? Se poi il vortice lo crea la penna ironica e tagliente di Jane, allora è finita. Credo di non essere riuscita a godere appieno di questi due 'incipit' proprio per questo pensiero fisso che occupava i miei pensieri; l'idea di non poter sapere la fine mi angosciava. E' come assaggiare un piatto buonissimo, tentare di avventarsi sul vassoio ma vedersi soffiare via tutto da sotto il naso. E' una crudeltà.

Jane, torna tra noi!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t get much out of The Watsons and Sanditon, as they were unfinished works and didn’t give me any time to get acquainted with the characters and the settings. Lady Susan was pretty spicy. Makes me wish we had a longer Austen epistolary novel.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

This book contains 3 Jane Austin novels ~ Lady Susan, The Watson's and Sanditon. Sanditon is the reason I got the book and being truthful the only story I have read - at least so far - and it probably will remain that way. Jane Austen books are not my favorite classics and I find that my mind will wander while reading her works. However watching movies or TV adaptions of historical works, I do enjoy. But staying with my past performance, I do like to read the book, prior to watching the adaptation.

This was Austen's last manuscript - unfinished. Critics remark that this writing style is very much different from Austen's normal style, and has an "open and modern feel" in reference to her other novels. Not being a fan of Austen, I cannot comment whether or not this is the fact.

It is hard to really like any of the character in Sanditon. It is reasoned that Austen , already ill, did not want to leave her loving characters, which she often idealized way past the book she wrote them into, so made them unlikable. In addition health is a major theme in this book, as reasoned to be because of her own failing health. This novel also tends to the new, not the old and established that most of her other novels are settled in.

Having adapted other Jane Austen novels to film, experienced Jane Austen adapter Andrew Davies completes Sanditon for viewing. Austen wrote 11 chapters - then titled 'Brothers' and put her work aside before her death. Davies finished the story out, basing it on the town, Sanditon, for an 8 episode PBS Masterpiece series.

[❀ Tina ❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this, I really did. I mean, it's JANE AUSTEN, you know?? And yet, here we are. I don't think it helped that I was slightly slumpy when I was reading this and that it therefore took me the better part of four days to get through this 200 page book.

I wanted to love Lady Susan, because it was such a unique way of telling a story. But it was so full of horrible characters that I just came out at meh. I wanted to love The Watsons, but it felt like it was speeding along without any depth and then it just ended. I wanted to love Sanditon, especially after I thoroughly enjoyed the Pemberley Digital adaptation of it a couple of years ago. But OH MY GOD SO MANY HYPOCHONDRIACS I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS NONSENSE. And then it just ended because Austen rudely went and died.

So yeah. Maybe my expectations were too high? And I did enjoy seeing a variety of Austen's writing in one book. But on the whole, this was fine but forgettable.

[piperitapitta]

Lady Susan *****
[inizio lettura 11/04/2013 - fine lettura 12/04/2013]
Perfida e adorabile Jane Austen che con Lady Susan dà vita alla più manipolatrice tra le donne riuscendo persino nell'impresa di fartela amare e fare il tifo per lei e per i suoi matrimoni: quelli che s'hanno da fare quelli che non s'hanno da fare, senza riuscire a capire, fino alla fine, quali siano gli uni e quali gli altri.
Il tutto attraverso uno scambio epistolare incrociato.

[Mary Durrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful reread!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

**Rating: 5/5**

It’s been far too long since I’ve read anything by Jane Austen, and reading this feels a bit like coming home after a long day at work. It’s such a comfort to be back in the Regency period, enjoying Austen’s comic wit and subtle yet insightful social commentary.

Lady Susan

“My dear Alicia, of what a mistake were you guilty in marrying a man of his age! Just old enough to be formal, ungovernable, and to have the gout; too old to be agreeable, too young to die.”

PLEASE.

Let’s face it, Lady Susan is quite different from the other more traditional Austen heroines; she doesn’t exactly have the best personality - she’s manipulative, selfish and a pretty horrible mother to boot. But she’s also eloquent and intelligent, and there’s this part of me that can’t help admiring her fierce streak of independence, her refusal to conform to society’s expectations and just generally not giving a crap about how others viewed her:

“I am tired of submitting my will to the caprices of others—of resigning my own judgement in deference to those to whom I owe no duty, and for whom I feel no respect.”

In some ways she’s kind of iconic, really.

I was also very surprised when I found out that this was written when Austen was only in her late teens. The voice of Lady Susan, a widow in her thirties, felt mature and authentic - yet another example of the range and skill of her writing. While initially a bit confusing when I was trying to figure out who was who, the epistolary method employed in this story was a charming and effective way to get to know our characters and all their thoughts on a very personal level.

The Watsons

The Watsons opens with a delightful ball scene where we are introduced to our protagonist, a Miss Emma Watson, as well as her potential 3 suitors. There’s something comfortingly familiar about the quaint countryside setting, the gentle and hilarious way Austen pokes fun at the British gentry, and the plucky, witty disposition of our heroine:

“Emma; but you must think him agreeable. Can you lay your hand on your heart, and say you do not?
- Indeed I can, Both Hands; and spread to their widest extent.”

Out of the 3 pieces of writing in this book I think The Watsons was most similar to Austen’s traditional style. It’s a shame this tale is incomplete but I’m extremely glad we got to know how it ends from Austen’s beloved sister Cassandra.

Sanditon

I loved the characters in this one. They were all different shades of weird (and I do mean weird) and wonderful, and I love how our heroine Charlotte Heywood spends most of her time psychoanalysing the strange social circle she inexplicably finds herself entrenched in. Having the story set in Sanditon felt incredibly appropriate as well. It’s quiet and small enough that you get the intimacy of a smaller society where you don’t get bogged down by a stream of characters, but it’s also a new and upcoming seaside resort where change - regarding both the development of the town and the social hierarchy - is bound to happen.

Some of the characters that I found the most memorable include the overdramatic and farcical Sir Edward, who has a pretty dubious moral compass and says a lot of things that might sound fancy but on reflection actually mean next to nothing:

"The coruscations of talent, elicited by impassioned feelings in the breast of man, are perhaps incompatible with some of the prosaic decencies of life; - nor can you, loveliest Miss Heywood - nor can any woman be a fair judge of what a man may be propelled to say, write or do, by the sovereign impulses of illimitable ardour.”

After which Charlotte very quickly and very succinctly summarises his character:

He seemed very sentimental, very full of some feelings or other, and very much addicted to all the newest-fashioned hard words - had not a very clear brain she presumed, and talked a good deal by rote.

Charlotte Heywood’s internal monologue was an absolute treat.

The Parkers are also hilarious, both as individuals and as a collective family unit. The Parker sisters - Diana in particular - are an interesting mix of hypochondriac and your typical busybody neighbour:

The whole of their mental vivacity was evidently not so employed; part was laid out in a zeal for being useful. It should seem that they must either be very busy for the good of others, or else extremely ill themselves.

Despite being a mere 12 chapters long, Austen’s brilliant wit, excellent characterisation and witty dialogue really shines in her last novel. It’s such a pity that it remains unfinished, because I was very much looking forward to seeing how the newly-introduced characters - Sidney Parker, for instance - develop, and how Charlotte becomes less of an amused observer and more of an active participant in Sanditon’s polite absurd society.