Charlotte

by Julia Barrett, Jane Austen

Julia Barrett, az Austen-regények folytatója, az Önteltség és önámítás és A harmadik nővér szerzője irodalmi kinccsel bukkant elő. E regény Jane Austen utolsó, befejezetlen műve és annak kiegészítése, melynek az író maga eredetileg A fivérek, családja pedig a Sanditon címet adta. A történet új Austen-hősnőt kelt életre, aki méltó helyet foglalhat el Elizabeth, Emma és Anne mellett. Megismerkedhetünk Charlotte Heywooddal.
A történet Sanditonban, egy fejlődésnek induló, tengerparti településen játszódik. A fiatal leány vidékről érkezik, s szembetalálja magát a pezsgő városi élet kifinomultságával és közönyösségével. Az ártatlan, de éles elméjű Charlotte-ot minden igyekezete ellenére mégis rabul ejtik a bámulatos Parker família különcségei, az álmodozók és semmittevők előkelő családja; a békétlen Denham testvérek; a betegeskedő, ám rendkívül tevékeny Parker nővérek és a mindent kényszeresen megfigyelő Emmeline Turner. Charlotte hamar felismeri, mi is a feladata. Azonban még e bájos, ifjú hölgy legnagyobb erőfeszítései sem tűnnek elegendőnek ahhoz, hogy megmentsék a fürdőhelyet.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Regency, British Literature, Adult Fiction, Audiobook

296 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Julia Barrett was the pseudonym adopted by Julia Braun Kessler and British-born novelist Gabrielle Donnelly in the writing of Presumption, An Entertainment, a sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Julia Braun Kessler then continued on her own (as Julia Barrett) with three more continuations of Jane Austen's works: The Third Sister, A Continuation of Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's Charlotte: Her Fragment of A Last Novel, Completed, and the forthcoming, Mary Crawford: or, Revisiting At Mansfield Park.

Reviews

[Elizabeth George · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always and unless specified, ignore the stars and instead read the review. Previous to this book, I read "Sanditon" by Jane Austen & Another Lady. That book does what this book does, which is to take a fragment of Jane Austen's last and unfinished novel and complete it in her style. This novel is, of course, not intended for Jane Austen purists but for curious people like me who want to see how someone might carry off being a Jane Austen impersonator. Between "Charlotte" and "Sanditon", I prefer "Sanditon" as I think it did a fuller job depicting the minor characters and the subplots related to them (most specifically Miss Lamb's subplot). This novel seems more devoted to the twists and turns of plot and to the revelation of Regency society than to the characters. I found that I wasn't enchanted by this Charlotte nor by Sidney Parker. There's always the question of how to bring them together (and why to bring them together), and while Sidney is a convincingly dashing hero, his leap into love seemed rather precipitate. So I would say that this was an ambitious project with results that didn't quite live up to the effort made by the author. Stylistically, though, she's right on the money. It's impossible to tell where Austen left off and Barrett picked up.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1817, Jane Austen penned twelve chapters to a book she called The Brothers and this fraction of her novel later became known as Sanditon. Those tantalizing twelve chapters introduced enough of a story that had other writers itching to complete the novel and even make a TV adaption based on it. And, no less tantalized by a completed story than the writers, are the Austen-loving reading public of whom I am counted. All that to say, I was glad Julie Barrett intrepidly went forward and wrote her version of Sanditon. I was well pleased to give new to me narrator, Johanna Ward, a try as she read the tale.

Jane Austen's Charlotte begins with the events Jane Austen recounted in those twelve completed chapters- Thomas Parker and his wife Mary, while out looking for a physician to hire for his new health spa venture, Sanditon, have a carriage accident. Thomas Parker's ankle is severely injured and the Parkers become the guests of the nearest family in the neighborhood to the accident, the Heywoods. The Heywood hospitality makes them all fast friends and the upshot is that when the Parkers return to Sanditon, they take eldest Heywood daughter, Charlotte with them.

Until this journey, Charlotte has remained home never leaving her immediate neighborhood. Though the family is well-read and have polite society manners, Charlotte is exposed to a broadening world. She wryly observes all those around her, keeping her opinions to herself behind a polite smile. She is very grateful to the Parkers for hosting her in style and their warm, open natures. They are joined by three more Parker siblings, two spinster sisters and coddled youngest brother who are all hypochondriacs and always looking for the latest health cure. She doesn't mind their fixation on the health spa and health quackery, but she is offended by Sydney Parker, another Parker siblings' jaded smirks at his own family and the rest.

Getting Sanditon up and running is Thomas' idee fixe, but the small fishing village turning health spa brings a growing cast of characters together. Thomas Parker's partner in the enterprise is the social climbing, prideful old Lady Denham. She has her husband's heir and nephew, Sir Edward Denham and his snobby sister Esther dangling after her fortune, but she confounds them by bringing a poor relation from her own side of the family, Clara Brereton into her home as companion. Clara makes the most of it and figures out quickly how to make herself indispensable to the old lady. The Parkers also entice a few pretty young ladies including a West Indian heiress with their chaperone to take their seaside holiday and Sydney Parker brings an aristocratic friend as well.

Most of the book is establishing the characters, their connections, the setting and Regency seaside spa background. It moves slowly forward as relationships of friendship and more blossom, partnerships and enterprises wax and wane. The central figure Charlotte has book learning, but her growth takes place in the ways of people as she lives among a varying society. There is a spark between her and Sydney, but it stays a small ember for much of the book through their infrequent times sharing a scene until near the end. But, its obvious they are consternating each other and working a change in each other's characters so their understanding of one another and their respect grows even when apart.

The book delves into side plots and characters deeply so that Sir Edward, Clara, Esther, Arthur, and more get a full tale told as well.

The story of Sanditon and rise of their dream spa is where the rise of conflict and final climax takes place with the teetering suspense of whether the town will be a success or failure. Into the original Austen characters comes a few new faces and they institute great change and movement in the plot. One is a famous lady poet that captivates Charlotte and teaches her to grow even more in sophistication past even what she learned in her visit to Sanditon. The other is a wily villain who charms more than one leaving someone Charlotte cares for in precarious situation.

So, this has a lot of moving parts and lots of plot trails causing its forward progress to be ponderous and often distracting. Still, it pulls back to the center of the lane when it does venture off and gets there eventually. I enjoyed this, but admit one has to be in the mood for a contemplative and deeply described style that does a decent job holding to the general direction of Austen's early chapters and to the Regency manners and customs.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I intended to skim over Jane's fragment, having read it several times before, but I got caught up in the story because it was so funny! I had forgotten how funny it was after watching the dreadful TV series. Jane delightfully skewers social climbers and would be fashionable elites. At first this continuation does a wonderful job matching Jane's tone and style. The continuation features the decline of country life and the rise of the new money who lacked taste and style according to old gentry families like Charlotte's father. The subplot with Edward and Clara is amusing at first. However, when the action moves away from Sanditon, it gets boring and I lost interest. The plot ends up stereotypical and unoriginal. The romance is barely there and secondary characters' side plots are shoved aside for a summary of what Edward is up to. Edward is not the hero! The story shouldn't focus so much on him.

Tom Parker is a fool. In his quest to become fashionable and bring Sanditon to notice, he's forgotten a lot of important things along the way. His wife Mary, a sensible woman, explains to Charlotte how agreeable the old Parker family home was. Built in a vale, the house wasn't disturbed by wind, it had a large, shady garden for the children to run around and play and all the vegetables they wanted for free from the kitchen garden! Tom mansplains and shuts her down at every comment with an equally ridiculous statement. It's clear Mary has more of an idea about the best place to raise a family than her husband while he's only interested in making Sanditon great. Lady Denham is also a fool and an autocrat. She wants to use her husband's estate and milch asses to make Sanditon into a health retreat. This seems to be at odds with Tom's plans. Maybe not at first but he seems to just want Sandition to thrive any way it can.

Edward Denham is not a villain. He's not clever enough for that. He reads trashy novels and isn't smart enough to understand them. He takes his novels at face value and longs to be a seducer like the hero of one of his novels. Edward has no idea how to seduce a woman but he does know how to woo one with words. His letters are full of nonsense drivel, bad poetry and longing for Clara. She isn't so unaware of his motives but she needs money, a home and a husband to protect her. Lady Denham is capricious and Clara has to toe the line and cater to the old lady's whims. Clara is not devious but she's self-aware enough to allow Edward to woo him until she's got him where she wants him- at the altar. In the meantime, he gets caught up in a scheme he doesn't quite understand and romanticizes the plot to a dangerous degree. If he were more self-aware and smarter, he would be selfish but as he is not, he's just plain stupid. Esther is hardly in the story. She's cold, calculating and snobby. Her story is barely there. She's only mentioned a few times.

Arthur's character development is great and I still think he'd make a good husband for Charlotte. He has his sights set on another lady though. Susan and Diana are hysterically funny. Diana is a hypochondriac who worries about her siblings too much, especially Arthur. She finds her purpose in Sanditon. She's bossy and Sanditon suits her. There's nothing about Miss Lambe until the very end and only a mention. She doesn't end up with Arthur.

Now for Charlotte. She comes from a large country family and her parents are too nice to discipline their children so all the kids ran wild. Charlotte and her next brother Henry were the parents of the younger ones. Charlotte would check her siblings' behavior but her own behavior sometimes is borderline inappropriate. She makes fun of Lady Denham's late husband's portrait and makes a joke to Mary Parker. Unfortunately Lady Denham overhears and feels insulted. Charlotte recognizes her behavior was rude and reflects on her childhood freedom. She does want to grow and admires a poet, Mrs. Emmeline Turner, who has come to Sanditon for rest and relaxation. All Mrs. Turner wants is to get away from Society but unfortunately Tom Parker doesn't understand. Mrs. Turner takes Charlotte under her wing and appropriately nurtures Charlotte's interest in literature- unlike Edward. There's not much of Sidney in the book. He's a disinterest observer in his sibling's scheme until Charlotte confesses her worries that Tom's plan to make Sanditon fashionable has gotten out of hand and someone is going to get hurt. Sidney doesn't act until it's almost too late and when he does, the story just copies Mr. Darcy's actions in Pride and Prejudice. This is mostly a non-romance love story especially since Sidney and Charlotte have only met about three or four times.

Charlotte's brother Henry is naive. Not for him is the life of a country squire. He heads to London to strike it rich and of course the country lad is an easy mark for the London swells. It's not his fault. Sidney's friend, Mr. Collinsworth is a London gentleman who is very much aware of the unscrupulous things his peers get up to. Mr. Matthew Dawson is the villain of the piece but he is no more evil or dangerous than any other smart, enterprising, unethical young London gentleman. He has big plans and like Mr. Wickham, is able to charm anyone into giving him what he wants. He doesn't see consequences or much care about what happens to anyone but himself. Mr. Dawson has set himself up as a Robin Hood figure when he's not at all altruistic. Not even Edward Denham is a more selfish man.

It's a pity the author chose to write the same old story. It shows how incredible Jane Austen was and how no one can possibly continue her story because she was one of a kind. I imagine this would have been a sharp, witty comedy of manners, a real masterpiece if she had lived longer. This continuation is a decent read but it bored me and took forever to feel like finishing.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit to skimming through different portions of this. There was a decided focus on all the characters, so much so that I never felt I truly had time to connect with any of them. I do commend the author for attempting to write in an older style, though I don’t think it held up to compare with Austen herself. But overall it was an interesting take on the storyline that Jane started but never finished. There were a lot of subplots and certainly a few moments I really enjoyed. Not the best I’ve ever read, but not truly terrible either, by which I mean I did enjoy myself more than I first thought I would!

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my second attempt listening to the audio version of this book, and it failed to engage me again. Despite the author's attempts to sound like Jane Austen, the story was sadly lacking and the dialog was convoluted and uninspired. I greatly prefer Sanditon, by Marie Dobbs ("another lady") which captures both the essence and humor of what was sure to have been another gem of an Austen novel.

[Mummy Cat Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to own this novel. It was given to me by a friend. I tried to finish it but it was soo boring. I know this work was left incomplete so I can only assume that Austen would have made the book better had it been finished. What Barrett seemed to do with the novel was not to my liking.

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, just not terribly interesting. There was something about this story that just didn't hold my attention.

[BritGirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this book a try because I was disgusted with PBS's "Sanditon" (a salacious soap opera that should not have Jane Austen's name remotely attached to it). This book was just as disappointing, but for different reasons. Why not develop the characters Jane Austen introduced in the first 11 chapters rather than create several other characters that took the circuitous "plot" down bizarre dead ends? Most frustrating--and surprising--was the absence of Charlotte and Sidney from much of the book.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlotte, Julia Barrett’s continuation of Jane Austen's Sanditon I found to be very disappointing. The plot (or lack there of) was all over the place once Barrett picked up the story. She did a great deal of explaining characters’ motives and mental states instead showing them really accomplish anything.

Here I did not get to know Charlotte as I had in Another Lady's Sanditon; she wasn’t a fully drawn character. And the romance between her and Sidney was a series of short encounters, and even shorter conversations…not much opportunity for the two to get to know each other very well and fall in love. (The end was disappointing with Sidney coming to see her and “had as much as an hour gone by, before his partiality for Charlotte was understood by every Heywood old enough to notice?” Surely we could been told a bit more about the meeting between the two, perhaps actually witness it?)

I was surprised by Clara Brereton longing for Sir Edward when in Jane’s fragment she seemed aware of his real character and had no interest in him. And he didn’t seem to be quite the cad he was supposed to be.

While we’ll never know just where Jane would have gone with this fragment, I have a hard time believing she would have made bootlegging and gambling major plot points in the story.

Skip this one and try Sanditon completed by Another Lady instead.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there is a superficial resemblance to Jane Austen's completed works, this novel fell well short of Austen's literary example. Instead of helping us to know her characters through witty dialogue, Barrett relies on narrative description. She also jumps around so much between various characters that when she refers to "our heroine," one almost has to stop to wonder which character that is. Barrett falls into a trap common to many authors of historical fiction by giving far too much period detail, as if to show that she has done her research. The plot is slow and plodding through the first 80% of the book, then takes off at a gallop. I listened to the audio book and the one saving grace was the narrator, Johanna Ward. Her excellent narration is the only reason I finished the book.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Barrett's Third Sister and Presumption, so I was disappointed that I did not enjoy this one. Barrett's portion focused too much on Sir Edward and not enough on Charlotte and Sidney. Also, the ending was a little abrupt.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another finished version of Sanditon. Which I actually enjoyed reading, and liked the characters, though the relationships were different, again, in this variation.

[Michael B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers below.

Barrett's completion of Jane Austen's final manuscript was #5 in my Summer in Sanditon reading project. I'm sorry to report that like Shapiro's completion, Barrett's is a hard no from me. I had to force myself to finish it.

So what did Barrett do right?
1. I think her focus on the Sanditon project was correct. Nearly every character was somehow involved with or touched by the question of what Sanditon (the place) should be.
2. Barrett also did have a good focus on the Parker family.
3. Sidney's winning Charlotte's love by rescuing her beloved brother rang true as an Austen trope. After all, Mr. Darcy does this for Elizabeth when he "rescues" Lydia.
4. The fact that the Sanditon Project fails also rings true to the Austen manuscript.

What she didn't do well. Oh boy. Here's the list:
1. The language. Barrett suffered from trying too hard. She takes the complex style of Austen and makes it convoluted. Whereas Shapiro's diction was the problem, Barrett's syntax stood out as awful. Reading this book was exhausting.
2. The plot was, as others have said, quite boring. I didn't care a thing about any of the characters, so her tidy ending was just meh for me. I thought the doctor (Mr. Porter) made sense, but was totally underdeveloped. Her Mr. Dawson character also brought a hint of conflict, but not nearly enough. And she rushes to fix things by the end. Charlotte's random friendship with a writer (whose name Barrett and her editors failed to keep straight) never went anywhere (besides London).
3. The characterization was bland. Lady Denham was utterly forgettable, as were Clara and Esther, and so was the so-called heroine, Charlotte. Given you could take Charlotte out of this novel and not really lose much, you know she isn't really the heroine Barrett claims she is (which makes Barrett's title very ironic). The Parkers are all there, but Tom should have been much more on the page than he was.
4. POV was not done the way Austen did it, so this novel can't be viewed as true to her style. The POV focused on various characters, so the main character (Charlotte?) was often not in chapters.

If you teach creative writing, use this book as an example of what not to do when writing historical fiction.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just in time for dear Jane's birthday, I finished this continuation of her unfinished novel, Sanditon. It was an interesting take on how the story may have gone. I think I enjoy other continuations I have read of Sanditon over this one. However, I did enjoy the idea of turning Sanditon into a gaming town over the health spa idea. I was less fond of the changing storylines, however. Charlotte, the named heroine, is often left behind as the author struggled somewhat to handle all the different storylines introduced. I found the ending quite rushed as well and that was a result of the lack of attention to the heroine throughout. Charlotte's happily ever after was almost an afterthought to her own novel.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those who savor the Austenian style will delight in this last novel, fully a third of which comes from the pen of Austen herself. The plot, too, promises particular cultural and political nuance. Unfortunately, the protagonists never quite come to life. Rather than letting their characters emerge through word or deed, Barrett relies on expository summaries of their experience. As a result they remain flatter creations, and the narrative elements feel clumsier, than in the original novels. We miss the multi-layered levels of consciousness. But if Austen's subtlety is hard to match, her intent comes through clearly in Barrett's genial effort.

[SusanwithaGoodBook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've had this on my shelf for a few years because I collect all things Austen, but I bumped it up the queue when PBS showed its Sanditon mini-series last month. This is a bit different from the mini-series (which is based on a different author's interpretation), but still based on Austin's original fragment of unfinished novel.

I expected to love this, and I was really enjoying the early chapters, but it really bogged down in the middle and didn't pick back up until the very end. There was a romance there, but it was covered up in layers of boring. I was sadly disappointed.

I'll give it two starts but one of those is probably pity for poor Miss Austen.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio Book. I've read a few authors' attempts at completing Austen's "Sandition". This author does a good job imitating Austen's language, and the characters seem more in line with what she might have intended (compared to the recent TV adaptation). But the plot was pretty slow to me, with not enough time spent on Charlotte and Sydney to develop an attachment to them as a couple. Charlotte was likeable, but I wanted more about her. I didn't get the emotional tie I hoped to feel.

[Clare Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was disappointed with this completion of Jane Austen’s work. Too many storylines within the story to really get to the detail of those stories or the characters in the story. The hero and heroine barely featured together in the book and hard to see how they could have gotten to know each other never mind fall in love. More detail and less plots would have been better. An interesting story worth the read but no real satisfaction

[Lani Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read through what Jane Austen herself wrote, but I didn't go past that into what the other author added. It was fine. It was only the start, and there was some classic Jane Austen there, but I also felt like it was very much setting the scene, and I felt like the whole fragment was just waiting for the rest. In P&P and Emma the plot seems to happen sooner.

[Edy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange.book. I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters. I would like to know what part Jane Austen wrote. It certainly didn’t appeal to me as the other Austen books did.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems like the author was a fan of both Jane Austen and Poldark. While there are humorous observations of human nature, the characters aren't very engaging. The heroine is in fact a minor character, and the romances are uninspired.

[Jael · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG so Jane Austen and so not. I got to say all of London and society and the balls. Loved it. Yet so different because it is the story of such an independent girl and the ending... I was not expecting that

[Chambodia · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was an attempt. The switch from Austen to Barrett is jarring. She has all of the vocabulary but none of the writing style. Austen was a genius in what she did, so I can't fault her too much. It must have been a daunting task, but she failed.

[Carol Meyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful, boring, pedantic, lacking in chemistry and romance. Narrator’s perspective inconsistent. I’ve read and enjoyed many Jane Austen derivations. This one doesn’t compare either to Jane or the others. Skip it.

[Darcee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good at imitating the language of Jane Austen, but unfortunately, it was a boring story.

[Flora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts read like Jane Austen, others are similar but just off. still enjoyed the story, even though it didn't focus on Charlotte as much as I would have liked.

[Elizabeth Rasche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this completion of JA's Sanditon.

[Kirstin Nason · Rating 2 out of 5]

C cty

[Roxan AlexanderArntson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Austen fan, but I was constantly aware of the differences in writing style and story. We’ll never know what Austen intended her novel to be, but I don’t think this was it.

[Junemarie Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would a completion of Sanditon by any other name be just as unsatisfactory? Yes. Glorified fan fiction at best.