Austenesque Review

Austenesque Review

Cleaning house and moving some reviews around.

Emma Watson: Jane Austen's The Watsons completed by Joan Aiken

This novel attempts to complete Jane Austen's unfinished novel The Watsons. Emma Watson was adopted by an aunt after the death of her mother, 14 years earlier. Now the aunt has remarried and Emma has to return home to her ailing father and three older spinster sisters. Her eldest sister is kind and good, caring for their father and trying to ignore her broken heart from a long ago romance. The other two sisters are busy husband-hunting and their eldest brother is married to a greedy, grasping woman who dislikes Emma. At a local assembly, Emma dances with a young boy who introduces Emma to his kind mother and his uncle, the vicar, who also dances with Emma. Jane Austen left off after the assembly and Joan Aiken attempts to pick up the novel and finish where Austen left off. Emma is a saintly heroine, helping her eldest sister care for their father and their home while despising her other sisters and brother. She befriends little Charlie Blake and his family including Mr. Howard, the vicar and attracts the interest of the interest of the rakish Tom Musgrave and the slow-witted Lord Osborne. Emma experiences many tragedies before she can find happiness. The first half of this novel is well-written and in the vein of Austen but the rest of the story is full of tragedy before it abruptly comes to an end. This isn't the best Austen adaptation. It doesn't seem like something she would write and there isn't really an ending except for an epilogue which tells what happens to the characters. I would recommend this to Aiken fans and Austen fans who are curious about what happens to Emma Watson.
Romance lovers and historians look elsewhere.