for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter, the real action shares its importance with Austen's manipulation of her characters' behaviour by means of their reactions to the letters that they receive. Austen demonstrates the subjectivity of the opinions by presenting them - primarily - in the letters of one woman to another, thereby suggesting the literary motifs of feminine gossip and jealousy. Readers recognize these subjective motifs and examine the idiosyncrasies of the characters in order to create their own opinion of Lady Susan, as they would with a real acquaintance. The Watsons is a delightful fragment of an unfinished novel, whose spirited heroine - Emma - finds her marriage opportunities limited by poverty and pride. Includes notes from Austen as to how the novel would have finished.

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