The haste which JA demonstrates in NA, at both the beginning and the end, is a different technique from her other novels. Her brevity in NA is a sharp contrast to the fine detailing and minutiae of MP for instance.

I agree with David Pinching, who wrote the afterword to my copy of NA:

“The opening chapters take us out of the family home of the Morlands in such a hurry that we have only just been introduced to Catherine and her habits when we are rushed headlong into the Bath scene. Certainly, if Austen’s intention was to contrast fashionable life outside society with a more homely existence she does not dwell on it here. Catherine’s youth is rushed through as if on fast-forward; just as the end of the novel stampedes through the results of Catherine’s adventures with an unashamedly flippant ‘happy ever after’”.

I agree with you about JA leaving it up to her reader’s interpretation (and I enjoy creating my own interpretations) and yes, that is a mark of a great author, as you said. I am not a reader who likes everything to be spelled out, however, what I would like in NA (particularly the beginning and the ending) is more detail, such as in the Portsmouth scene of MP, (but of course, comparisons belong to Austenuations). Perhaps you can tell that NA is not my favourite of JA’s novels, in fact, it is my least favourite, and I am afraid I have never been able to like Catherine very much! I have nothing against her and I would not say that I dislike her; I just haven’t been able to identify or empathise with her in the same way as with the other heroines and that is probably the reason why I am seeking more information about her.