I received this eARC from Sunbury Press via Netgalley.

I did not connect with this story. I tried very hard and took notes. It was confusing. I found none of the characters interesting. They all blurred together without distinction. I love Jane and her stories. Most of all her characters, but this story just didn't work for me. Knowing that this was written in her youth and not finished didn't help. I would like to praise Mr. Rockas on his continuation, but I will thank him for the effort.

Catharine or the Bower is an unfinished piece of Austen's juvenilia. It is often seen as significant as it represents a shift in tone between the high-spirited burlesques of Love and Freindship and her later more emotionally complex novels. Certain critics have tried to compare to Austen's other incomplete works Sanditon and The Watsons and here Leo Rockas attempts to complete the story.


The novel's heroine is Catharine Percival, better known as Kitty. She shows more signs of being the classical heroine of early Regency literature than Austen's later more nuanced protagonists. Kitty is virtuous, beautiful and educated. She is also an orphan, the ward of her aunt, Mrs Percival, who seems to have been an early fore-runner of Mrs Norris. With her aunt determined to prevent Kitty from meeting unsuitable young men, she never meets anyone. To make matters worse, Kitty's childhood friends the Wynnes have all been scattered to the winds following the death of their clergyman father. Mrs Percival only allows Kitty to befriend local girl Camilla Stanley when Camilla's brother has been confirmed to have moved to the Continent. Unfortunately Camilla proves vain and vapid but when her brother Edward unexpectedly returns, flirtation occurs. This naturally causes Mrs Percival terrible chagrin and when Edward is packed off back to France, Kitty is left to ponder what might be between them.

It was here that Austen stopped writing and that Rockas picked up the story. Unfortunately, Rockas' writing does take matters at something of a hairpin turn and the change in tone was somewhat jarring. Similarly, the choice to pick up characters from Lady Susan and jam them into the narrative also took me out of the story. The reappearances of the Wynnes and fates of the Stanley siblings all felt artificial. They had far more in common with the ludicrous fantasies of Love and Freindship than of what Austen appeared to have been trying here. Austen passes comment on the governess trade, on young girls being sent out to India to marry and on education and the position of women. Given how young she was at the time of writing, this is a very sophisticated attempt to query accepted attitudes within society.

Indeed, the dynamic between Kitty and Edward also raises other questions. He seems to sincerely care for her but he also has a rakish reputation. We have seen how this character type will play out in later scenarios such as Henry Crawford's ill-fated courtship of Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, Willoughby's ill-starred love for Marianne and also in the manipulative conduct of Frank Churchill in Emma. Typically, Austen steered her heroines towards steadier characters than Edward Stanley. But there is still something good-natured about him as a male lead that makes me hope for better things. But then I also think Henry Crawford would be a better life partner than Edmund Bertram so maybe I’m not the best judge. It was a shame that Rockas was so keen to knock any chance of romance squarely on the head in his continuation.

As spin-offs or continuations go, this one was not particularly compelling. However, it did draw my attention to a significant moment in Austen’s development as a writer. Glimpses of characters such as Mrs Percival show early signs of Austen’s genius for characterisation and there are fascinating moments of budding radicalism through Kitty. I have already forgotten much of Rockas’ story but I will always remember Kitty and wish her well in her bower.

“Catharine or The Bower” is one of Austein’s not finished works. She started to write it before she wrote all her well known books, and she used characters from this draft in her other books. Leo Rockas, who has studied Austein’s books, has taken the draft, added the missing parts using his knowledge about her books.

Austen books have fairly similar stories and have similar outcomes - heroine’s family (usually big and loud) and hero (tall, moody and independent), they meet, at first they keep apart, then something happens and they need to communicate more, so being more together ends in falling in love. Her stories have humor and they have drama.

But “Catharine” does not have this well known story. Here are a lot of single young people, they get together, they fall apart, they are the best for each other, they should not be together, they look for love and for the most beneficial partner. In a way you could see in this book, how the sisters Bennets and siblings Bertsams were created and this story is not just Austen like, it is also Dickens like.

In a way, it's a good story, but at the same time I feel that the story lacks the substance that Austen’s finished stories have.

normally I Dont read Classic novels, but lately i have been needing to read some thing othere then my thrillers and cozies. Im trying to catch up with my arc reading and forgot that this was on my kindke so isaid what the heck. Now from the introduction of the story my understanding is that this was an unpublished story. and that the co-author states that the characters eventually came to play in other stories..
not that all classics are dull or slow but i felt that while i enjoyed the experience it kinda felt like Ms Austen was brain storming with this story then actually writing a novel.. there is a common thread in the story but i felt like there wasnt much point to the story line.. but that ok, as I said it was still an experience that i enjoyed.

Thanks for the ARC.
I found some parts of the book a bit dragging. They characters were will built but I wasn't able to connect with them well.
The writing was extraordinary, no wonder.
I would love to re-read once again, maybe then I will find it more appealing.

I am amazed. I am a Jane Austen enthusiast and if I didnt know in advance the point where Leo Rockas took over the authorship of this novel.... I wouldnt have been able to tell! What a fine example of literary collaboration over 200 years apart! I think this novel would make a fantastic book discussion selection, perhaps paired with another Austen novel. Kudos, Professor Rockas, kudos.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

When you know Austens other works, you can notice that this is an early draft. Sometimes you have a paragraph full of narration followed by a whole paragraph only of dialogue (almost like in a play). Normally Austen would have interwoven those parts a lot better.
She also throws us right into the story without introducing her characters properly. At the very first I thought that main protagonist is also part of the Wynne family, but she is actually their best friend.
Mostly I was confused about the ever changing use of the names Catherine and Kitty. First I thought that they are 2 different people, then that they are the same, then again I was back to the 2 people theory. Until I was finally convinced that they are indeed one and the same.

However, apart from this confusion and the unrefined paragraphs, Jane Austen's writing style and tone is like the one I already know from her other novels. I especially didn't notice how young she was when writing "Catharine" (only 17!). She deploys the same themes and topics as in her novels, and of course the setting and the main character being a young girl that is unmarried, not exactly rich and relying on relatives is also the same. Jane Austen wrote about the things she knew best from her own experience!

Since Austens manuscript is rather short and ends after just three chapters (but with setting the tone quite well and establishing the fundamental elements) it has never been published as a separate work, although there have been several projects where scholars or writers attempted to think up their own "What's next?" version, as Leo Rockas states in his foreword to this edition. I found on the internet a website of Juliet McMaster, an academic who specialised in Jane Austen. She also tried to finish this manuscript with her students and presents the fact that all of Jane Austens heroines marry the guy they first encountered! So it should be quite clear that Kitty ends up with Edward. But then she lists several arguments against this outcome and even finds a young man that is not part of the novel yet but that Kitty has met before! There you go...

I don't want to spoil how Leo Rockas managed to finish this story (well, he did not only finish it, he actually wrote almost two thirds of the whole book). But in my opinion he did a very good job.

As a Jane Austen fan, I found this book well written. Unfortunately, I found it hard work to read which possibly could be due to my work pressures and the storyline not creating more interest.

Catharine, an orphan living with her maiden aunt, is introduced to the best and (not quite) worst of society in this sweet novella. Originally abandoned by Jane Austen in favour of other works, Catharine, or the Bower has been edited and published but admittedly still feels too short. The characters are well developed and described, as are the intricacies of the scenes, but certain passages feel rushed, especially the ending.

Despite this, it is a sweet, fun novella, and the reader can see Austen's signature stamp all over it. Even from a young age, she was a talented wordsmith, and this book would certainly please Austen's fans.

**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read as I love Jane Austen and it was new to me. Not my most favorite but I think it was an interesting experiment in finishing the work.

This book was definitely an extension of the writing style of Jane Austen. While it was I interesting, I just could not get really involved with the characters. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a descriptive and slow writing style.

The novel is definitely interesting as far as the story and the experimental side of it is concerned. Though stylistically impressing and entertaining, neither the story itself, and the direction it went, nor the characters managed to captivate me.

I had never heard of this work from Austen before coming across it on NetGalley. Intrigued by this unfinished manuscript, I was impressed that someone would be bold enough to endeavour to complete it. Unfortunately, I don’t think I actually reached the “modern” part because I only managed to read about a third of it. I didn’t manage to get into the story, the characters failed to captivate me. Maybe it is due to the fact that I’ve just finished reading Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility, two major Austen novels. And following up with an early piece of work (Austen wrote it when she’s seventeen I think) might have been too counterproductive. I shall try to re-read it much later on to have a fresher look.

I would like to thank netgalley and Sunbury Press, Inc. for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Austen's art of the manuscript, but didn't get on with Rockas's. I found Rockas rather arrogant about their own abilities and the storyline chosen, a little wierd.

Orphaned Catherine is brought up by her rather formidable and over-protective Aunt Percival. Catherine forms a strong bond with the four children of the Wynne family, much of their time spent together at the Bower of the title. In later years fortunes change for the Wynne family children and they each are forced to take very different directions in life. Catherine meanwhile is befriended by the very frivolous Camilla Stanley, whose brother, Edward, appears to take a strong liking to his sister’s new friend. Catherine is quite overwhelmed by his attentions which are not welcomed by her Aunt. In a turn of events, Catherine is reunited with the two Wynne brothers but will she ever meet again with the two Wynne sisters? Regency society demands beneficial matches to be made, but will they ?

Catherine or The Bower was an unfinished work penned by Jane Austen when she was only 17. Her future genius is clearly seen here as are the templates for some of the characters in her later novels. It is a brave undertaking to attempt to imitate her style but Leo Rockas does this masterfully! His meticulous study of her work is evident in this hugely enjoyable book. I loved being transported to this era and all its social complexities, and very much enjoyed a ‘new’ Jane Austen novel. Whilst Austen depicts an age in which women were generally seen to have little power, she invariably includes female characters who show strength and power in alternative ways..Also, as always in a Jane Austen novel there is a strong moral to the story and Leo Rockas does not disappoint in delivering this . This is a must for all Jane Austen fans.

Yet another adorable story from Jane Austen. It is everything you would expect from her. Light, fun with a supremely happy ending and characters you can't help but love and want to be friends with.

I never read the unfinished story of Catharine before, so I had not previous knowledge of where Austen's work stops, and where Rockas' work begins. I did not really find out either, which is a good thing, it is clear Rockas put a lot of work into keeping his writing style as Austenesque as possible. I must admit that, although I have been obsessed with Austen's work, I am not the kind of reader who readily notices difference in writing style when someone really attempts it to be as similar as possible.

I loved reading this story, and seeing the start of many characters who I loved in Austen's later work.

Even if I liked and found it entertaining I'd have preferred a novel as the characters are not fleshed out and seems silhouettes.
The style of writing is good, I can't tell what was by Jane Austen and what by Rockas.
It's recommended to Austen fans.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I am not sure I would have acknowledged were Austen stopped und Rockas began if he didn't say that..so it was a pleasure to read this book!

Non sono sicura che mi sarei accorta dove si era fermata la Austen e dove avesse proseguito Rockas, se quest'ultimo non l'avesse scritto chiaramente nell'introduzione. Tant'è che il libro mi é piaciuto.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

** spoiler alert ** I can't judge this on how well the book was finished,I'm not enough of an Austen fan to comment.
I can say it was a book full of ridiculous people ,saying ridiculous things,in an amusing manner,that was fairly enjoyable.
Slightly predictable,but there's nothing wrong with a happy ever after ending.
Fun