I saw a deeply excoriating review of this novel on my f-list in the last week – apologies for not linking, but I am writing this in the Channel Tunnel. I wouldn’t be quite so harsh; it was Austen’s first novel, and she has not managed to quite get the trick of interesting plot or characters, but it’s not actually bad in my view. But I must admit I sped through the second half hoping that there would be a punchline, and was disappointed.