Joan Aiken

[RegLit]

Her name is not prominent amongst regency romance authors. She was known for children's stories and gothic romances. However, she was a fan of Jane Austen and has written several sequels. If they are anything like Lady Catherine's Necklace, I'm not sure I'm too enthused about reading them, even though I do have a copy of several of them.

I do like Aiken as an author and have enjoyed several of her gothic romances. However, the style she used in Lady Catherine's Necklace seemed more appropriate for a diary than a regency. I found it rather irritating that the beginning of several chapters summarised what happened in the interval since the last chapter ended - maybe it was to shorten the story, but it didn't make for good reading. To me, it was disjointed. Especially when characters start having a conversation regarding an event that the reader is unaware of, then the author goes on to explain what happened. As an example, a minor character is ill and is not expected to live. The next chapter takes place several days after his funeral and delves into how and why he died. It just jumps from one conversation to the next, it seems.

I understand that Austen left some unfinished manuscript. I believe the Watsons was one of them and that it was completed by another author. I wonder if Joan Aiken was that author. I had read another incomplete Austen work that was completed by someone else but cannot remember the name. I'll have to research it.