The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Volume VI: Minor Works

by Jane Austen, Robert William Chapman (Editor)

This is one of a complete set of Jane Austen's novels collating the editions published during the author's lifetime and previously unpublished manuscripts. The books are illustrated with 19th century plates and incorporate revisions by experts in the light of subsequent research.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Romance, Historical Romance, Literature, 18th Century

476 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1892

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

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, now I've read and thoroughly enjoyed Lady Susan, the fragments, the letters and the juvenilia. I await my Janeite decoder ring.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading these works one by one and reviewing them separately, so I will continue to add to this post.

Jane Austen’s Love and Freindship (yes, that’s how she spelled it) is part of the second volume of Austen’s Juvenilia, short works she wrote from 1787 to 1793 mostly to entertain her family. Subtitled “Deceived in Freindship & Betrayed in Love,” Love and Freindship is a short epistolary novel that showcases Austen’s humor and wit. From these early writings, we can see Austen working toward the literary masterpieces (in my opinion) that readers continue to love nearly 200 years after her death.

The opening letter of the novel is from Isabel to her friend, Laura. Isabel figures that since Laura has turned 55, she should be ready to discuss the events of her life. The rest of the letters are from Laura to Isabel’s daughter, Marianne, and while only one point of view is featured in this novel (and the limited point of view is one of the drawbacks of the epistolary structure), it really works here. Laura writes to Marianne of her “Misfortunes and Adventures” in life and love to serve as a lesson or guide. And Laura certainly takes readers on an adventure!

In Love and Freindship, Austen pokes fun at romance novels. There are quick marriages against the wishes of parents, tragic deaths, thefts, and fainting spells. Austen goes all out on the melodrama, but it works. Laura’s antics are not only ridiculous, but also laugh-out-loud funny. It might have grown tiring had the piece been longer, but it’s only about 30 pages, and it reads very fast.

Laura almost immediately marries Edward after he appears at her family’s home, lost and seeking shelter. He is the son of a baronet who was supposed to marry someone else, but Edward is determined to always disobey his father. The newlyweds eventually find themselves in the home of Edward’s friends, Augustus and Sophia, who married against their parents’ wishes, burned through the money Augustus stole from his father, and racked up so many debts that Augustus is imprisoned. When Edward leaves to see if he can get Augustus out of jail but fails to return, Laura and Sophia, now best friends, must fend for themselves and head to Scotland.

From here on out, numerous things happen that cause the women to faint, and there are a series of odd coincidences. Austen didn’t take her heroine seriously, and neither should readers. For Austen fans looking to read some of her lesser-known works, Love and Freindship is the perfect place to start.

Review posted on Diary of an Eccentric

Edgar and Emma is a “novel” with three chapters that take up about four pages. The first chapter gives an interesting description of the Marlows, Sir Godfrey and Lady Marlow and their two daughters, Emma being the youngest. Sir Godfrey doesn’t understand why they are staying in “deplorable Lodgings” in a “paltry Market-town” when they own three houses where they could be living instead. Lady Marlow agrees, not knowing why they have stayed so long, but Sir Godfrey says it was solely for her pleasure. Austen’s humor emerges right away, when readers discover that they have been living in these Lodgings at a “great inconvenience” for two whole years!

While the first chapter seems very similar to how Austen sets the scenes in the beginning of her later novels, the final three chapters are very quick, without much character development but much melodrama and tragic romance. Austen seems to enjoy poking fun at overly emotional women who are quick to faint, cry, or lock themselves away forever when minor setbacks occur in their relationships. In Edgar and Emma, readers are never really introduced to Edgar, who is merely mentioned. We just know that he is the eldest son of the Willmots, whose family is so large that they can’t all fit in the family’s coach. Only nine could travel at one time, and they took turns.

Emma is eager to see her dear Edgar, but he is not one of the Willmots to come calling when the Marlows return home. I’m not going to say where Edgar is or describe Emma’s over-reaction, but Austen creates so much drama with such simple language and sparse prose. I was laughing out loud at Emma’s hysterics, and I could image Austen chuckling herself as she composed these lines. There is not much of a plot in Edgar and Emma, and of course, the characters could have been fleshed out more, but the only thing really missing from this piece is dialogue, which Austen later proved to master. Although many of the works in the Juvenilia are unfinished or really short and quick, like Edgar and Emma, readers can see little glimpses of the characters she would create later on in her novels.

Henry and Eliza is among my favorite works in the Juvenilia. This one is a little longer at seven pages, and the young Austen really went all out with the melodrama and tragedy in this one. Eliza was found at the age of 3 months (amusingly already able to talk) under a Haycock by Sir George and Lady Harcourt, who took her in. Much is said about Eliza’s beauty and happiness that it seems Eliza could do no wrong. However, she is quickly cast out by her adopted parents when she is caught stealing a banknote.

Such a transition to one who did did not possess so noble & exalted a mind as Eliza, would have been Death, but she, happy in the conscious knowledge of her own Excellence, amused herself, as she sate beneath a tree with making & singing the following Lines. (page 34 in the The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen: Volume VI: Minor Works)

Because Eliza is just so darn wonderful (except she’s already proven that she’s not and will continue proving that in the pages ahead), she finds a new living situation right away as the Humble Companion to the “Dutchess of F.” Eliza and the Dutchess’ daughter were poised to be such good friends, sisters even, until Eliza steals away her lover, Mr. Cecil. Henry and Eliza marry quickly, then leave for the Continent, worried about the Dutchess’ reaction. From there, Austen infuses her story with a pursuit by the Dutchess’ army of 300, tragedy in Henry and Eliza’s marriage, captivity in a tower, a hilarious escape, and an even funnier reunion with the adopted parents who tossed her out and her mother’s serious problems with memory loss. It was one of the silliest, most ridiculous stories I’d ever read, and definitely the light entertainment I’m so in need of these days.

I also read The Beautiful Cassandra, which was dedicated to Austen’s sister, Cassandra. It’s a novel in 12 chapters, but is really short at only a few hundred words and about four pages. Each chapter encompasses only a sentence or two, making it perfect for readers who need a little Jane Austen fix every now and again. Cassandra is an only child; her mother is a “Millener” and her father is of noble birth. When she turns 16, Cassandra, described as “lovely & amiable,” falls in love with a bonnet made by her mother and wears it as she walks out of the shop and into the world “to make her Fortune.”

Cassandra engages in a host of silly and senseless activities. For instance, she eats six ices and doesn’t pay, then takes a Hackney Coach to Hampstead and immediately after arriving turns around and goes back. And of course, she couldn’t pay the driver. Cassandra may be beautiful as the title suggests, but she doesn’t have much sense. She sets out to make something of herself, but returns home after almost seven hours, declaring the day “well spent.” It seems as though Austen and her sister shared a similar sense of humor, and I’m sure her sister Cassandra was nothing like the Cassandra in this short tale.

Review posted on Diary of an Eccentric

Frederic and Elfrida is among several very short “novels” believed to have been written between 1787 (when Austen was 12) to 1790. The work spans about 8 pages with 5 chapters. Many of the writings in the Juvenila were read aloud by Austen to entertain her family, and I bet they had some laughs with this one. (I know I did!)

Elfrida and Frederic are cousins who were born on the same day, grew up together, and were very much alike. It is not surprising that their parents determine they should be married. Austen skips around to introduce Elfrida’s friend, Charlotte, who is visiting her aunt when she receives a letter from Elfrida requesting that she purchase Elfrida a bonnet. Charlotte is a very amiable young woman, so of course, she obliges.

When Charlotte returns home and is welcomed back “with the greatest Joy” by Elfrida and Frederic, they take a walk and spy two girls, Jezalinda and Rebecca, the daughters of Mrs. Fitzroy, and a friendship develops. Here, as the three friends admire Rebecca’s “Wit & Charms,” I am reminded of more well-known Austen characters who hand out compliments and insults almost simultaneously.

“Lovely & too charming Fair one, notwithstanding your forbidding Squint, your greazy tresses & your swelling Back, which are more frightfull than imagination can paint or pen describe, I cannot refrain from expressing my raptures, at the engaging Qualities of your Mind, which so amply atone for the Horror, with which your first appearance must ever inspire the unwary visitor.” (page 6)

After the meeting with the Fitzroys, the last few pages breeze by, with a relationship frowned upon then embraced (frowned upon because Mrs. Fitzroy thought the couple too young for matrimony at 36 and 63) and a melodramatic suicide following one character’s acceptance of two marriage proposals seemingly within a “short time” of one another, meaning more like hours or even minutes. Meanwhile, a wedding date is never set for Elfrida and Frederic, and when time passes and Frederic seems almost lost to her, Elfrida secures her desired outcome through fainting fits.

Obviously, there really is no character development or plot in this short piece, but Austen’s purpose was to entertain, and she succeeded. The melodrama may have been less hilarious and more tragically romantic had it been spread out over a hundred or so pages, but I just love that these writings are like flash fiction that give readers a sense of the writer (genius) that Austen was to become. Already, one can see that Austen had a playful and ridiculous sense of humor, and like her later beloved novels, there are romantic disappointments, seemingly unsuitable marriages, painful separations of friends, and disapproving elders.

Frederic and Elfrida, like other writings in the Juvenilia, are perfect when you have only a few minutes of reading time or are in need of something lighthearted and funny. You won’t find much to ponder in these few pages, and you have to understand that they are like unpolished works from a young girl’s journal, but you won’t want to miss an opportunity to experience Austen as a budding writer.

Review posted on Diary of an Eccentric

The History of England is a short piece Austen wrote in 1791 when she was a teenager. Its full title is The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st and is meant to be a parody of a 1771 work by Oliver Goldsmith, titled The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II. You know right away that Austen isn’t writing a serious history, given that the work is “By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian.”

The more I stray from Austen’s novels to her earlier works, the more impressed I become with her as a writer. The History of England really underscores her wit and humor and shows that she had the talent to captivate audiences at a very young age. Her love of literature also shines through in that instead of backing up her history of the monarchs with the works of noted historians, she cites Shakespeare and other literary works.

Austen also pokes fun at the idea of historical bias, particularly how people remember what they want to remember and how the historian’s personal beliefs may play a role in how the past is perceived. As in many of Austen’s novels, in which the narrator engages with readers, she puts herself and even her family and friends into her historical account and never hesitates to insert an opinion.

I cannot say much for this Monarch’s [Henry the 6th] Sense–Nor would I if I could, for he was a Lancastrian. I suppose you know all about the Wars between him & The Duke of York who was of the right side; If you do not, you had better read some other History, for I shall not be very diffuse in this, meaning by it only to vent my Spleen against, & shew my Hatred to all those people whose parties or principles do not suit with mine, & not to give information. (pages 139-140)

Not being very familiar with the English monarchy, many of the references made by Austen went right over my head. Still, I was able to see what she was getting at and enjoy the humor in it.

The History of England is a must-read for Austen fans. It spans only a handful of pages, and I read it in about 20 minutes during my lunch break. It’s interesting to compare the writings of a teenage Austen with her more mature work, like Persuasion. So far, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Austen, and it saddens me to think how much more she could have done with the written word had she lived longer.

Review posted on Diary of an Eccentric

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Jane Austen, and have read all of her novels multiple times. So it was a real delight to read this collection of her minor works. There is a variety of material here, including juvenilia, her semi-major work Lady Susan, the unfinished novels The Watsons and Sanditon, poetry, prayers, collections of friends' and relatives' opinions of several of her novels, and more. I found the juvenilia to be hilarious, displaying an exaggerated sense of humor very similar to Northanger Abbey. She especially spoofs the prevalent tendency in novels of her time for the heroines to be constantly fainting - for example two girls fainted alternatively on the sofa, and one was in such a hurry to have a series of fainting fits that she could scarcely recover from one before having another. One story featured a drunken family who were quite humorous. I enjoyed finally reading the epistolary work Lady Susan, about a woman who was a terrible mother. I enjoyed the two unfinished novels even more, and it was a pity that neither was finished. In The Watsons, she had intended to have the father die, and decided not to continue it when her own father died, and Sanditon was in progress when she died. However, she continued writing right up until the day before she died, when she composed a lengthy poem. It was wonderful seeing her artistic development, and other types of writing that she did.

[Kelsey Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

With my completion of this book, it appears that I have read all the known writings of Jane Austen still extant today! There were some gems in here, such as "Catharine," a novel that was proving to be delightful, but to my disappointment was unfinished; the self-consciously amusing "History of England"; Miss Austen's collection of her family and friends' opinions on "Mansfield Park" and "Emma"; and three devotional prayers. Her Juvenilia were so entertaining: they are silly little tales that she wrote for family members, about ridiculous people doing ridiculous things, and you can almost hear the youthful author laughing behind her characters’ backs. All in all, these unedited stories and notes go far in revealing what Jane Austen was truly like.

[Alex Roma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might have been the only part of Jane Austen's work that I was missing (aside from her letters and the memoir written by J. E. Austen-Leigh). These were mostly little scraps of unfinished stories or finished stories that she wrote when she was a child. They were far from the best writing in the world, but it was so entertaining to read as a fan of Jane Austen, and to see her humor in the highly colorful stories she wrote at the age of 12. It was also interesting to see how dramatic and, at times, obscene they are, compared to the more proper, suitable for mass audiences stories that were eventually published and sold. I laughed through half this book and posted quotes all over social media. It's a delightful little treasure for a hardcore Austen fan.

[Allison Hilleson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The History of England particularly was hilarious. 15 year old Jane Austen was very sarcastic and it was highly amusing.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this is a compilation of Jane Austen's minor works from works she wrote as a teenager (entitled "Juvenalia") to her prayers and her final novel, "Sanditon" which she never finished due to her death. These works were very entertaining. It was interesting and enlightening to read the works written as a teenager. You can definitely see a teenage girl in them and how she thinks. They are very dramatic; in almost all of them someone dies. They reminded me of the main character in Northanger Abbey and her fascination with Gothic novels. You can also see Austen's development as a writer in them and how some of her characters developed from these girlish writings.

Then there were some works that were interesting but I could see how they never became famous novels. I really enjoyed "Sanditon" and thought it would have turned out to have been a great novel, but alas, that was not God's will. Austen's prayers are excellent too. It is very clear from reading them that she was a Christian. Reading them was convicting and they would be a good source to use in my own personal prayers. All in all very enjoyable and I recommend this volume to Jane Austen lovers; particularly if you have read all of her novels!

[Katherine Holmes]

I'd read some of Austen's juvenilia many years ago and thought it hilarious. It was funny again and I could hear teenage girls laughing at her capricious characters and their wild departures from "proper" English life. I had wondered how she reformed into an elegant, conscientious author. This included her first longer fictions - "Lady Susan", a letter story and "The Watsons" - where the humor became an undertone and the plots had more reality. What was fascinating was Austen's first twelve chapters of Sanditon, written at the end of her life. The chapters seemed to be an exploration of her characters. I was impressed with Masterpiece Theater's being faithful to those descriptions. Austen took off comically on health issues at the seaside resort, on the overweight Arthur and his appetite, and on Sir Edward hitting on Charlotte with a pseudo-literary conversation. Then the statement that Sir Edward's only goal was seduction, a sentence that would never appear in a finished book. So this was Austen's first draft mature writing that, if she had completed Sanditon, would have been a different book and probably perfectly acceptable. It was nice to think how Jane Austen enjoyed her writing to her last years.

[Marci · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the minor works of Jane Austen in this volume are "Lady Susan," the delightful tale of a wicked, wonderful heroine who mistreats everyone; "Love and Freindship," in which the two hysterically funny heroines Laura and Marianne take turns running mad and fainting as a standard response to their many adventures; and a number of small but amazingly talented little starts and short tales. Jane Austen's razor sharp wit is fully developed by the time she wrote these things as a teenager. Highly recommended to all Jane Austen fans.

[Milliebot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review and others can be found at my blog.

Jane Austen’s Minor Works contains her juvenilia, the short story Lady Susan, fragments of the novels The Watsons and Sandition, a plan for a novel, thoughts on some of her work (from family and friends) and some verses prayers.

I’m sorry I waited so long to pick up this collection of Jane’s work, after having completed all her finished novels. Her juvenilia was a blast to read. These were all judged to be written when she was anywhere from twelve to eighteen and her sense of humor takes the lead. The little stories and unfinished snippets are clearly meant to be taken lightly and often poke fun at society (more boldly than her later novels). Her characters are frivolous and nonsensical, changing their minds at the drop of a hat, or often fainting away or dying. I often found myself laughing out loud and gushing at my fiancé about how unexpectedly funny these little tidbits were, while he nodded away and pretended to understand 18th century humor.

The most ridiculous tale in this section was probably a story involving a woman who was pregnant without her husband’s knowledge and had the baby while he was away at sea, only to abandon her by the side of the road. A few days later her husband came home and they went out and found a baby and decided to adopt it – the woman not realizing it was her own baby at the time. They raised the girl and promptly kicked her out of the house when they found she’d stolen a little money (like a few pence or something), then when they find her wandering and homeless later, her voice suddenly sparks the mother to remember her child and all is well again.

A few quotes that had me chuckling:

“…when a person has too great a degree of red in their Complexion, it gives their face in my opinion, too red a look.”

“Mrs Fitzroy did not approve of the match on account of the tender years of the young couple, Rebecca being but 36 & Captain Roger little more than 63. To remedy this objection, it was agreed that they should wait a little while [to marry] till they were a good deal older.”

“…when they parted, she assured her that except her Father, Brother, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins & other relations, Lady Williams, Charles Adams & a few dozen more of particular friends, she loved her better than almost any other person in the world.”

A couple notes to family members:

“Sir, your generous patronage of the unfinished tale, I have already taken the Liberty of dedicating to you, encourages me to dedicate to you a second, as unfinished as the first.”

“Cousin, Conscious of the Charming Character which in every Country, & every Clime in Christendom is Cried, Concerning you, with Caution & Care I Commend to your Charitable Criticism this Clever Collection of Curious Comments, which have been Carefully Culled, Collected & Classed by your Comical Cousin.”

Lady Susan was actually my favorite part of this collection though. While short, it was unlike anything else I’ve read by Jane. Here we have our heroine (anti-heroine perhaps?) who is a widow and older (I think late 30s, older 40s, which is well into spinster status at that time) who is still totally working the game and teasing basically any man she chooses. She thinks her daughter is a complete idiot (really she’s just timid), her only friend’s husband refuses to let his wife anywhere near her and she’s recently destroyed some woman’s marriage in London and sets her sites on her sister-in-law’s brother next. Susan is deceitful and manipulative, but boy was I rooting for her! The whole time I was wondering if she’d be shamed in the end, for being so sneaky and scandalous and clever, but instead she married some semi-rich guy and seemed likely to continue on with her player lifestyle. Susan was badass if you ask me!

As for The Watsons and Sandition, I didn’t really care for either. I realize they’re unfinished, and perhaps with a finished story from Jane and more editing, I would have felt differently. Instead, we’re left with fragments that just didn’t catch my interest, especially after the humor of her early works and the delightfully scandalous Lady Susan. To be honest, I didn’t even understand what was happening with The Watsons. I gathered there was some girl, who was not living with her parents for whatever reason, then came home to them, and there was a guy who was obnoxious…but isn’t there always? I actually had to read the wiki to find out the plot because I couldn’t keep anyone straight. The lack of paragraphs and the disappearing quotations might have had something to do with that as well. With Sandition I had a better idea of who was who, but the plot didn’t seem to be going anywhere that would have held my interest.

It was interesting to read the feedback she received on a couple of her novels too. Some of her family was rather insightful!

This is definitely a collection for established Austen lovers. Don’t start with this if you’ve never read her work. But if you’ve read and enjoyed at least a few of her novels, I think you’ll find something in here to enjoy.

[Judine Brey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate an insight into Jane Austen's processes as a young writer, I think we make the mistake of thinking everything written by a famous author is worthy of being published. I'm not sure we really needed these teenage writings to be part of the Austen canon.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot to be learned about joke writing and sentence structure from the juvenilia

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I have only read Lady Susan, which I give 4 stars. A good little Jane Austen novella, with a sharper than usual distinction between the “good guys” and the “bad guys”

[Sophie]

Recommended for Austen fans.
A lot of this is downright silly but still provides insight into her development as an author. TBH I feel a great kinship with her after I recently re-read the jokey Lord of the Rings parodies I posted in an online Tolkien forum as a teenager. The teenaged Jane Austen seems to have done much the same at a similar age, producing farcical send-ups of things she read for the amusemeent of friends and family.
But many other pieces here are just straight-up excellent.

Out of the collection, these are the must-reads, in my opinion:

Lady Susan - a finished novella (somewhat hastily concluded at the end), a lot more refined than her juvenile works, absolutely hilarious. The main character is a Bad, No-Good Homewrecker and it's wickedly funny. Also recommend the film adaptation (confusingly called Love & Friendship) with Kate Beckinsale.

Love and Freindship (sic) - the real thing! Very juvenile and very silly, but I adore it! As I've said before, this is to late 18th century romance novels what My Immortal was to Harry Potter, on more than one level.

The Watsons - *cries because unfinished* - this is the beginning of a proper, mature novel. The main characters and dynamics are laid out, and we're left to hunger for what comes next.

Sanditon - *creyz even moar* - she worked on this late in her life. As with The Watsons, this is a very high-quality, mature work. Some truly hilarious characters, interesting insight into the nascent English seaside and bathing culture, and potential for an absolute romantic clusterfuck are all set up and ready to go but we're left hanging. I might actually read a version completed by some other author to see what they did with it.

Lesley Castle, The Plan of a Novel, The History of England - short satirical pieces that I liked more than the others.

[Paul Frandano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cracked this collection solely for the c. 1795 epistolary novella, unpublished in Austen's lifetime, given the name "Lady Susan" by its first publishers in 1871. It did not disappoint except in its concluding three pages, and it raises a question about Miss Austen's essential dispostion: sweet or sharp? We can never know, apparently, but from where might issue Austen's ability to write such waspishly wicked and conniving chatacters as Susan Vernon? Yes, of course, a gifted, penetrating intellect, but one must wonder about her conversation.

Lady Susan is several decades ahead of its time in presenting a beautiful, recently widowed mother and anti-heroine who knows exactly what she desires - money, sex, the social high life, complete freedom resulting from the marrying off of her shy, pretty daughter to a wealthy nincompoop - and, come Hell or high water, will pursue it as remorselessly as a mold advancing down a damp wall.

The pity is that Austen never returned to this sketch to flesh it out and, in particular, to devise a more satisfactory conclusion. That said, it's certainly well worth gulping down in a single entertaining sitting.

[Judine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed looking at the process of writing that is illustrated by the works written by the young Jane Austen. Her wit and sarcasm were firmly grounded from the very beginning, and there were a few lines that were clearly a treasure. That said, I think the reading public sometimes makes a mistake when they believe everything written by a famous author is worthy of being published. It's a similar thought I had when I read Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The First Four Years," which was the notes she was using to create the book, not a finished product. Austen is a more prestigious author in many respects, but the same ideas apply.

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting grab bag. The Juvenilia are a lot of fun: funny, bloody-minded, in a word, juvenile.
Sanditon gave promise of being a very interesting novel, very unlike any of her other works. Lady Susan was something of a revelation: I tend to fight shy of epistolatory fiction, but this is a work of wicked brilliance, with subtly differentiated voices from each of the characters. I can see why Whit Stillman decided to base a film on it. As a side note, Austen's inability to follow the "i before e, except after c" rule is pretty damned endearing.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was great to read Jane's earliest writing from her adolescent years and watch her develop and grow in capacity and talent. Some of her earliest stuff from ages 12 to 18 is absolutely hilarious it is so melodramatic! It still has that Austen density to it, but once you get used to it, you can really get a sense of who Austen was as a child.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a devoted Janeite, it's no surprise that I loved her fragments and incomplete/unpublished writing as much as her six main novels. Sanditon made me laugh out loud at several points, and her prayers were truly touching. It was also wonderful to see how her writing grew and matured throughout her career and, through Sanditon, to get a glimpse of where it might have gone.

[Amanda]

Jane Austen's early work is so much different from her novels but entertaining in a different way. Her writing, while having simple messages and satiric tones, have a wonder sense of humor and irony. Even as a young woman she wrote better than I ever hope to. She is so witty it makes me jealous.

[Maria Grazia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review of LADY SUSAN
http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspo...
Read my review of THE WATSONS
http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspo...

[Robin]

I have read the first several sections of this book but as I got toward the last section I was kind of Jane Austen'ed out at that time so for now I am suspended reading this...but I would like to read the rest sometime in the future.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so fun and interesting to read some of the things Jane wrote when she was younger. I confess I didn't read The Watsons or Sanditon as I have those in finished formats and will read them later.

[Ragna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my review for this book, so I can't remember exactly what I said. But I really liked reading Jane Austen's early and unfinished works. Her Juvenilia was really funny, and her unfinished or short novels were intriguing!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was funny, but nothing compared to her longer novels. These were mostly written when she was younger and you can feel that in the writing.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as satisfying as P&P, S&S, Emma which I have also read this summer, but a worthwhile read to have a more complete picture of this author.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the stories but unfortunately most were unfinished works, which I knew they would be.

[Tina Reitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have to fill in the blanks for these works by Jane Austen, but she is always a good read for the Regency period historical/relationship values

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But for my part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short."
This book is a collection of Jane Austen's stories that were not part of her novels. Practice stuff, but so great!

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love. Of course, it's *minor* works, and somewhat juvenile, but it still amuses.