I am a long-time Austen fan-though not one of Stephanie Barron, whose footnotes I find endlessly annoying. I found myself wanting to throw this novel away halfway through, when Hatty was being falsely accused of all that nonsense. Blah, blah, blah. I decided to persevere, and found it interesting, though as others remark, too, too Dickensian.But that ending!!! WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT? What a let-down! Ending up with Godwit? Pullease! It certainly made Camber look even more an idealistic fool than before. And that letter with the reference to Hatty dying young--why even include that? We all would rather just have her drift away as part of that time period without being forced to contemplate mortality. And why that letter from the present anyway? Takes away all the 18th Century, pre-Regency atmosphere. Unnecessary and stoopid!