The Watsons: A Discussion of Jane Austen's Unfinished Novel

"The change in Emma's home society and style of life, in consequence of the death of one friend and the imprudence of another, had indeed been striking."

Join us on Monday, February 23rd for an in-depth discussion of Jane Austen's most revealing manuscript.

About The Watsons
Jane Austen probably wrote the 19 extant chapters of "The Watsons" sometime between 1801 and 1805, while she was living in Bath with her parents and sister. This text is the only grown-up fiction project that she is known to have abandoned; and her reasons for doing so have long been a source of speculation among Janeites. In "The Watsons" we find many of the same thematic through-lines and areas of interest (sisterhood, romantic rivalry, the marriage market) that characterize her finished novels, yet handled with less polish and indirection. It offers a raw, unvarnished look at the precarity of single women's lives in Austen's culture — and, being unfinished, raises more questions than it answers. Let's dive in!

Meet Your Facilitator
Sarah Rose Kearns is a writer, performer, and lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast. Her stage adaptation of Persuasion, which premiered off-Broadway in 2021, had its second production last autumn at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in Baltimore. Persuasion will make its UK debut in April 2026 with Q2 Players at the National Archives theatre. Rose’s one-act play, Manydown, which imagines one important night in the lives of the Austen sisters, has been performed at libraries, schools, conferences, historic sites, and theatres in six US states, as well as in the UK and New Zealand. Manydown was recently adapted as a film by writer-director Prerna Ramachandra. In addition to her creative work, Rose is passionate about the work of building strong communities through art. Since its inception in 2020, she has served as a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and since 2023, as co-Regional Coordinator for the JASNA New York Metropolitan Region. She is the founding Artistic Director of The Holy Theatre, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization with a mission to make plays and other gatherings that leave people feeling nourished, connected, and more able to be brave. www.sarahrosekearns.com