The Watsons: The novel Jane Austen was always writing

Join Professor Kathryn Sutherland as she explores The Watsons.

Probably written in Bath in 1804-5, The Watsons was left unfinished. Despite this, it was clearly important: Jane Austen kept it by her for more than a decade during which all her famous novels were published. What is The Watsons—the beginnings of a novel? a short story? an experiment lying between biography and fiction? Why did she keep it?

Professor Kathryn Sutherland is Senior Research Fellow, St Anne’s College, Oxford. Her most recent publications include Why Modern Manuscripts Matter (2022) and Jane Austen in 41 Objects (2025).

You may also like the following events from No.1 Royal Crescent:

• This Thursday, 9th October, 06:00 pm, Book Talk – A Crime Through Time, with Amelia Blackwell and Jo Nadin in Bath
• This Saturday, 11th October, 12:30 pm, Walking Tour: Austen & Architecture in Bath – Persuasion in Bath
• Next Friday, 17th October, 06:00 pm, Poetry Writing for Adults in Bath