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1 of 1 members found this review helpful.A fragment of Jane Austen's Completed
“Jane Austen's fragment The Watson's was published posthumously by J. E. Austen-Leigh and few attempts have been made to complete it. One such attempt is by Joan Aiken entitled The Watsons and Emma Watson: Jane Austen's Unfinished Novel Completed by Joan Aiken first published in 1996 (reissued in 2008), another is this hard-to-find book by John Coates published in 1958. Jane Austen's original fragment consists only of 6 complete chapters and a few paragraphs. While that may seem to some to be too short to determine Ms. Austen's intended direction, John Coates audaciously attempts to complete this fragment while maintaining Jane Austen's well-known witty repartee and fleshing out the lovable cast of characters she introduced.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-08-15.
Mr. Coates does make some changes in Jane Austen's original fragment (such as changing the heroine's name to "Emily" instead of "Emma," and changing Austen's use of the word "chair" for an equipage to "gig"). He includes a post script at the end of his novel as an explanation of the changes he made in the fragment. His style in the novel and his tone in the post script show the reader that he treated Austen's work reverently and admiringly.
The Watson's are a family that consists of four unmarried daughter and two sons (one married and one not). The father of this clan is very depressed since his wife's death and does not go out in society. Emily, our heroine, has not been apart of this household; she has been raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle (sort of like Fanny Price). Thus, Emily, the youngest child, has received a more genteel and refined upbringing then the rest of her siblings. However, Emily is to return home, at the age of 19, after spending 14 wonderful and happy years with her aunt because her aunt has remarried an Irish captain. Emily is happy to be re-introduced to her family which she hardly knew before she left and did not keep a correspondence with. Her eldest sister, Elizabeth, sees to all the domestic responsibilities of the household, she is practical and warmhearted. Penelope, the second eldest sister, who has the acerbic wit of both Jane Austen and Elizabeth Bennet, is pert and lively. Margaret, in my opinion, is a character that we are not to like; she is self-absorbed, petty, and disagreeable. (She reminds me of Mary Musgrove). Emily is all that is proper and prim; she endeavors to be an example of a correct and well-mannered young lady.
Emily is introduced not only to her family, but all the inhabitants of her hometown. Emily is warned by her Elizabeth about Mr. Tom Musgrave's flirtatious habits and for this reason and she allows Margret the pleasure of chasing him. The first family of consequence, the Osbourne's, who previously had little to do with the Watson's, are now thrown together more because Emily is admired by Lord Osbourne. However, Emily finds that she is more attracted to Lord Osbourne's former tutor and present curate, Mr. Howard. A love triangle ensues in which Emily is in the middle and finds that her theories of puritanical deportment are failing her.
Emily and Penelope share a close relationship that is open, loving, and full of teasing. This is similar to other sisterly relationships we see in Jane Austen's works. Penelope becomes our second heroine and is one we can learn to love and admire as much as Emily. However, I felt at times, that the author focused more on Penelope and her story then he should have and less on Emily and her story then I would have liked. The same can be said for Emily's two suitors: Lord Osbourne and Mr. Howard, I think Mr. Coates characterization and development of Lord Osbourne is very satisfying and complete, I wish he did the same for Mr. Howard.
The story progresses at an agreeable speed and of course ends quite nicely with marriages and good outcomes for all. I applaud John Coates completion of the Watson's and found it to be very pleasing. The dialogue was entertaining and witty, the characters were lovable, humorous, and worthy of comparison to other Austen characters. I didn't notice a stark difference in the end of one Ms. Austen's work and the beginning of Mr. Coates', but I did feel a gradual loss of Jane Austen's tone by the end of the book. But who can write with Jane Austen's tone, style, dialogue, and characterization? (In my opinion he got 3 out of 4) I believe John Coates did a praiseworthy job and I recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a continuation of The Watson family. I also recommend Sanditon: Jane Austen's Last Novel Completed, which I also felt was a admirable attempt to complete another of Jane Austen's fragments.” -
enjoyable
“ I have just finished John Coate's finished version of Jane Austen's fragment,THE WATSONS (found relatively inexpensively on e-bay). I had previously read Merryn William's completed version so I was able to compare the two styles of writing and how each author's plot line diverged.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-06-03.
Although starting with almost the same characters, the story line and the actual writing styles were very different.
Merryn William's version has been praised as having developed more along the lines Jane Austen had indicated. Although I liked her style and her delineation of characters, I sometimes felt that the prose was water-downed...perhaps even simplified. It somehow did not convey the incredible use of language and word choice that one envisions in a Jane Austen novel.
John Coates' language was more along the lines of what I expected. His introduction into the original fragment of his own refinement of the character of Mr. Edward's seemed seemless. I did not necessarily like the fact that he made poor Mr. Edwards into a kind of town joke but I was impressed with how he achieved this.
I have to agree with other reviewers that he elevated the characters of Lord Osborne and Penelope (the sister of the heroine) above the main characters themselves but I found a liveliness in this book that I did not find in the other.
All in all, I found it an enjoyable reading experience. ” -
5 of 5 members found this review helpful.
An excellent continuation, although not faultless
“This is one of the two best continuations to Jane Austen's fragments that I've read. (The other is the Sanditon completion by Marie Dobbs.) It's unfortunate that it's so rare these days.
An amazon user wrote this on 2006-12-27.
The original "Watsons" was a fragment written by Austen in her younger days, and abandoned after several chapters. It tells the story of Emma Watson (which Coates changes to Emily, to distinguish from Austen's famous Emma), a young girl who has lived with her aunt since she was 5 years old. Upon her aunt's re-marriage after her father's death and move to Ireland, she is obliged to return to her rather impoverished family, consisting of 3 sisters and 2 brothers, and an ailing father. Complications are added to the plot by the attentions bestowed on Emily by Lord Osborne, an awkward young man, and his tutor, the gentlemanlike Mr. Howard.
Coates' prose is excellent, highly reminiscent of Austen's language (a rare find in Austen sequels). While he does not keep exactly true to the fragment, altering some characters such as Emily's sister Penelope, his reasons for the chosen changes are generally plausible. They are more like slight revisions, done in order prevent the characters from resembling other Austen characters. Austen herself probably would have similarly revised the piece had she completed it.
Coates writes a good, plausible plot, and keeps true to Austen's sketch of the characters where he must, while proficiently changing or developing them. The result is a satisfying story told in a sure, enjoyable fashion.
I do have one complaint, however. It appears that Coates was entirely too enamored of his "re-creation" of Emily's sister Penelope. She is a gorgeous, blonde and blue-eyed version of Elizabeth Bennet, sharing much of her wit while being even more outgoing and "pert". This does make Penelope fairly appealing (although a strongly suspected Mary-Sue), in contrast to the hinted outline Austen provides for her which, as Coates points out, makes her like a mixture of the two Miss Steeles from "Sense and Sensibility". However, Coates partially ruins her appeal by giving her center stage. He neglects Emily's relationship with Mr. Howard in favor of developing Penelope's relationship with Emily and her importance to the plot. Emily's relationship with Lord Osborne is also much deeper than her relationship with Howard.
Coates himself admits in a post-script that he did not do Mr. Howard justice. Perhaps he was not interested in him since Mr. Howard is entirely too "worthy" and thus "dull". (Or at least Coates finds him so, is the impression I received from his post-script). By contrast, he makes Lord Osborne much too honorable and appealing, in a sense that he entirely eclipses Howard, or is supposed to. Mr. Howard himself admits in the book that Osborne is his superior! I think that Austen's original plan for the characters would not have agreed.
In the end, I felt that Coates' fascination with Osborne and Penelope turned this story into Osborne's and Penelope's. Emily is by contrast more of the star because she 'must' be, and Howard is cipherish, dull and unimportant, his relationship with Emily barely developed through few, minor conversations.
But aside from this complaint, the book is more than recommended. It has excellent prose, a good plot, and engaging characters. Buy it, if you can.
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4 of 5 members found this review helpful.
Gentle treatment of a dark fragment
“This is one of several published completions of Jane Austen's fragment, "The Watsons." Unlike most other authors who have attempted to finish this work, John Coates revised Austen's six opening chapters, introduced additional major characters into the story, and changed the characterization of some of those who appear in the fragment. The story is complex and gently humorous. Coates understands Regency society and does a fairly good job of mimicking Austen's tone, though his writing is not as elegant as hers. But he strays somewhat from Austen's realism, making excuses for initially distasteful characters and bringing the whole to an unexpectedly happy ending. A pleasant read, but less morally forceful than Austen's own work.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2006-08-28. -
The Watsons reviewed by Rebecca Kellis
“This is a book by Jane Austen and John Coates. It's about Emily Watson, who has just met her family after living for fourteen years with her aunt. While Emily is home, she learns about her family and earns the unwanted but not particularly unpleasant attentions of Lord Osborne. She does not particularly want Lord Osborne, but what if the man she loves does not love her back? Added to this worry is the worry that her practically poor brothers and sisters will not find happiness in marraige. Will all go right for the Watson family?”
An amazon user wrote this on 2004-11-25.
