The Younger Sister

Synopsis

Catherine Anne Austen produced a total of ten novels, the first being The Younger Sister (1850), a continuation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel The Watsons (1803/5) and the first Austen sequel or completion ever published. James Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir describes how Jane Austen had intended the The Watsons to continue: "When the author's sister, Cassandra, showed the manuscript of this work to some of her nieces, she also told them something of the intended story; for with this dear sister — though, I believe, with no one else — Jane seems to have talked freely of any work that she might have in hand. Mr. Watson was soon to die; and Emma to become dependent for a home on her narrow-minded sister-in-law and brother. She was to decline an offer of marriage from Lord Osborne, and much of the interest of the tale was to arise from Lady Osborne's love for Mr. Howard, and his counter affection for Emma, whom he was finally to marry." This edition includes the text of The Watsons.


The Author

Catherine Anne Hubback (7 July 1818 – 25 February 1877) was an English novelist, and the eighth child and fourth daughter of Sir Francis Austen (1774-1865), a brother to novelist Jane Austen (1775–1817). Born in 1818, Catherine never knew her Aunt Jane. In 1842 Catherine married the barrister John Hubback. She began writing fiction to support herself and her three sons after her husband was institutionalized with a breakdown. In 1850, she wrote The Younger Sister, the first completed continuation of Jane Austen's The Watsons. In the next thirteen years, she completed nine more novels. She emigrated to California, USA in 1870. In the autumn of 1876 she removed to Gainesville, Prince William Co, VA, where she died in 1877. 


Contemporary Reviews

New Monthly Magazine, 1850 — The Younger Sister, a novel by Mrs. Hubback, is characterized by more straightforward common sense, and less of the maudlin sentiment and mere fanciful sketches of character which inundate the pages of too many ladies' novels.