Emma Watson: The Watsons Completed by Joan AikenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I woke up happy that I had three Joan Aiken novels to read. But with driving from the Hudson River up to Andes then over to West Kortright Center and back, only read one. Emma Watson: Jane Austen's Unfinished Novel Completed. I am trying to restrain myself in this review but such joy bubbles over. There's many an Austen knock-off I've read, hoping for some of the irony, discipline, reason and delight of the originals. Only one, Jane Fairfax by Aiken, actually completely satisfies, although some few of the other 'sequels' were interesting attempts, some even based on authorial respect, and a few written with some skill.
BUT, aha, there were long passages in Emma Watson that did meet all the criteria Jane Austen established. There's the lilting sense of being in on the joke that permeates her classics. The detail of setting which clarifies the story. When I read Austen, I can see the house, the gardens, the pelisses. I think that's one of her many gifts, she knows what the reader needs, and what it is not necessary to detail. Like Nabokov's exam question on the contents of Anna Karenina's purse, she paints the picture, we are there through the character's eyes, not outside observing the story. (And, I think VN was just cranky that day when he delivered that ill-fated diss -- or else wickedly joking as he tended to do so much. Or perhaps, he felt too many silly readers into Austen for silly reasons (gushing) -- sorry for the Defense). She does not mind.
The thing about Joan Aiken writing more Austen is Aiken's respect for the original text, being true to Austen's characters, her poetic and imaginative skills in writing, also playing with Austen's inside jokes. I'll not give those away, it's too delightful finding them. Aiken extends the strong, independent, self-actualizing woman most satisfactorily.
I couldn't stop reading it, always a good sign, even as I had planned to submit my own novel to the e-publishing system today. Always better to be buoyed by Austin and Aiken for the real courage to go ahead and publish.
Did I mention I loved the book and recommend it for those who can read between the lines?
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