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Sanditon
Jane Austen's Last, Unfinished Novel
“I am no indiscriminate novel reader. The mere trash of the common circulating library I hold in the highest contempt.” ― Jane Austen, Sanditon
Set in 19th century England, Jane Austen's last novel was completed by another author after her death. While it is still debated whether Sanditon was simply a first draft or marked a shift in Austen's writing style, the story of the daily lives of a cast of characters living in Sanditon makes for a lively read for Jane Austen fans.
52 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1817
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About the author
Jane Austen
3,923 books74.5k followersJane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.
The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.
The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 952 reviews
November 13, 2017
Even though I read a biography of Jane Austen recently, as part of my homage to her as in 2017 we are commemorating two hundred years since she died, it has not been until I have read this unfinished novel that I have felt the sorrow at her early death.
Her prose is superb. It flows even though it is clearly sharply forged. Her observant eye is acute and her humorous irony is as keen as a scalpel. And her subtle references to the world in which she wrote and lived, with the West Indian fortunes and the aspiring coastal resorts, make the historicity of this novel-to-be timeless for the matter it offers.
A draft full of promises, a life still full of literary germs. Both cut short.
July 23, 2024
Just thought I'd reread this as I watch the screen adaptation. It's such a shame Austen never got to finish this book - the set up is really interesting, and the characters very intriguing.
March 19, 2020
Since, I have been watching Sanditon on PBS, I wanted to read Jane Austen's original partial manuscript. She only finished 11 short chapters of this seaside romp, and while interesting, it's nothing like the salacious story I've viewed on television. I actually read a completed Sanditon finished by another lady. She neglected to give her name and I've since looked it up on line. I liked her version pretty well. In this iteration Arthur Parker gets together with Miss Lambe which is sweet.
It's just sad that Jane Austen died so young with this story left unfinished and others she had percolating. I guess we should be thankful for the six masterpieces she gave us. And that she didn't die while even younger from complications of childbirth like Charlotte Bronte or Mary Wollstonecraft.
It's just sad that Jane Austen died so young with this story left unfinished and others she had percolating. I guess we should be thankful for the six masterpieces she gave us. And that she didn't die while even younger from complications of childbirth like Charlotte Bronte or Mary Wollstonecraft.
May 17, 2021
*3.5 stars *
January 11, 2020
A satirical look at 19th-century business speculation, hypocondria and novel reading
On the 27th January, 1817 Jane Austen began work on a novel that is now known as Sanditon. It was never completed. Her declining health robbed her of what she dearly loved most, writing, and on the 18th of March 1817 after penning 22,000 words she wrote the last lines of chapter twelve and put down her pen. Four months later at age 41 she would succumb to what is generally believed to have been Addison’s disease.
Set in the emerging seaside village of Sanditon on the Sussex coast we are introduced to a large cast of characters dominated by the two minions of the community: Mr. Parker a local landowner with grand designs of turning a fishing village into a fashionable watering place offering the therapeutic or curative benefits of sea-bathing and his partner Lady Denham, the local great lady who has “a shrewd eye & self satisfying air” and cares little about the community and only her pocketbook.
The story unfolds from the perspective of Charlotte Heywood, a young lady experiencing her first trip away from her family as a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Parker. Sanditon is populated by a comical ensemble of residents and visitors who upon Charlotte’s first acquaintance are altogether different than they later appear. Lady Denham’s nephew Sir Edward Denham is handsome, amiable and titled but is prone to long inflated speeches in the most pompous and affected style in an attempt to reinforce his own notion that he is a romantic character born to seduce women “quite in the line of Lovelaces.” (Lovelace refers to the villain Robert Lovelace in Samuel Richardson’s 1748 novel Clarissa who rapes and ruins the young heroine.) He has designs upon Lady Denham’s companion Clara Brereton who he shall either woo with affection or carry off. Clara is a poor relation of Lady Denham’s who is maneuvering to be her heir and in direct competition with Sir Edward for her favor.
Also sharing the spotlight is Mr. Parker and his four siblings, three of whom Charlotte is told are sad invalids, but after their arrival talk a great deal about their maladies but exhibit little consequence of their afflictions. Here we see Austen at her comedic height characterizing the foibles of those who attach illness as an identity and hypochondria as their religion. The one bright light of hope in the novel is Mr. Parker’s brother Sidney who we know of only through letters and others descriptions. He may be the only character besides Charlotte who has the potential to set things in balance with his sense of humor and honest opinions. Sadly he is destined to remain the mystery hero of Austen’s oeuvre. Add to that a lineup a nest of plot ironies to raise an eyebrow at business speculation and hypochondria, and a sharp jab at the effluvia of novels and poetry and you have a narrative that whizzes along until an abrupt halt just when we are hooked.
The uncompleted novel is a great loss to literature but also to the characters who after a bright and comical beginning are left with uncertain futures. What does remain is more than a novelty of Austenalia. Sanditon’s levity despite the author’s failing health when it was written is quite remarkable. On first reading I thought it quite energetic and satirical, similar to the burlesque humor of Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I then put it aside and did not reflect on it further. My second reading after several years brought an entirely new reaction. Austen has taken a new and fresh direction from her usual three or four families in a country village and sets her novel not about an individuals struggle but an entire community. Money is still the fuel that powers the plot, but her physical descriptions of the landscape and town are entirely new in her cannon foreshadowing what may have been an evolution in her style. Sanditon is a gem that no Austen enthusiast should miss.
Laurel Ann, Austenprose
On the 27th January, 1817 Jane Austen began work on a novel that is now known as Sanditon. It was never completed. Her declining health robbed her of what she dearly loved most, writing, and on the 18th of March 1817 after penning 22,000 words she wrote the last lines of chapter twelve and put down her pen. Four months later at age 41 she would succumb to what is generally believed to have been Addison’s disease.
Set in the emerging seaside village of Sanditon on the Sussex coast we are introduced to a large cast of characters dominated by the two minions of the community: Mr. Parker a local landowner with grand designs of turning a fishing village into a fashionable watering place offering the therapeutic or curative benefits of sea-bathing and his partner Lady Denham, the local great lady who has “a shrewd eye & self satisfying air” and cares little about the community and only her pocketbook.
The story unfolds from the perspective of Charlotte Heywood, a young lady experiencing her first trip away from her family as a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Parker. Sanditon is populated by a comical ensemble of residents and visitors who upon Charlotte’s first acquaintance are altogether different than they later appear. Lady Denham’s nephew Sir Edward Denham is handsome, amiable and titled but is prone to long inflated speeches in the most pompous and affected style in an attempt to reinforce his own notion that he is a romantic character born to seduce women “quite in the line of Lovelaces.” (Lovelace refers to the villain Robert Lovelace in Samuel Richardson’s 1748 novel Clarissa who rapes and ruins the young heroine.) He has designs upon Lady Denham’s companion Clara Brereton who he shall either woo with affection or carry off. Clara is a poor relation of Lady Denham’s who is maneuvering to be her heir and in direct competition with Sir Edward for her favor.
Also sharing the spotlight is Mr. Parker and his four siblings, three of whom Charlotte is told are sad invalids, but after their arrival talk a great deal about their maladies but exhibit little consequence of their afflictions. Here we see Austen at her comedic height characterizing the foibles of those who attach illness as an identity and hypochondria as their religion. The one bright light of hope in the novel is Mr. Parker’s brother Sidney who we know of only through letters and others descriptions. He may be the only character besides Charlotte who has the potential to set things in balance with his sense of humor and honest opinions. Sadly he is destined to remain the mystery hero of Austen’s oeuvre. Add to that a lineup a nest of plot ironies to raise an eyebrow at business speculation and hypochondria, and a sharp jab at the effluvia of novels and poetry and you have a narrative that whizzes along until an abrupt halt just when we are hooked.
The uncompleted novel is a great loss to literature but also to the characters who after a bright and comical beginning are left with uncertain futures. What does remain is more than a novelty of Austenalia. Sanditon’s levity despite the author’s failing health when it was written is quite remarkable. On first reading I thought it quite energetic and satirical, similar to the burlesque humor of Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I then put it aside and did not reflect on it further. My second reading after several years brought an entirely new reaction. Austen has taken a new and fresh direction from her usual three or four families in a country village and sets her novel not about an individuals struggle but an entire community. Money is still the fuel that powers the plot, but her physical descriptions of the landscape and town are entirely new in her cannon foreshadowing what may have been an evolution in her style. Sanditon is a gem that no Austen enthusiast should miss.
Laurel Ann, Austenprose
January 31, 2018
Η Ώστεν για ακόμη μία φορά διεισδύει στα ενδότερα της βρετανικής κοινωνίας με πολύ κέφι και καυστικό χιόυμορ… πολύ λυπάμαι που αυτό το έργο δεν ολοκληρώθηκε. Είναι φανερό ότι εαν ολοκληρωνόταν θα μιλούσαμε για ακόμη ένα αριστούργημα της αγαπημένης συγγραφέως. Δυστυχώς ήταν πολύ λίγο για να το χαρώ.
January 29, 2020
I'm not reading this edition (I'm reading online) but just can't resist this public domain cover! 🤡😁🤣
So far I'm thinking this title really inspired Georgette Heyer's writing style!
Just about to start Chapter 5.
3.5★
Just to be clear - I'm only reading what The Divine Jane actually wrote. I have a horrible feeling that this incomplete work has been combined with editions of this work that have been finished by other authors. Sigh. A GR librarian's work is never done - but it is going to be ignored for a few days!
So my incomplete work has 12 chapters. Others have mentioned reading copies with only initials - mine has the characters' names.
I love the start - the idea of a Jane Austen character as a seaside resort developer had enormous appeal for me! But this is the last book JA worked on - and she was already unwell. Her character studies become nastier than I am used to from Jane. I'm sure JA would have revised and made the storyline sharper if she has lived and smoothed out the rough edges on some characters.
By the end - not enjoyable for me.
I will watch the TV adaptation when it hits my shores. Everyone just better be prepared for some vinaigrette sniffing and pearl clutching as I just don't associate Jane Austen with sexy times.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
So far I'm thinking this title really inspired Georgette Heyer's writing style!
Just about to start Chapter 5.
3.5★
Just to be clear - I'm only reading what The Divine Jane actually wrote. I have a horrible feeling that this incomplete work has been combined with editions of this work that have been finished by other authors. Sigh. A GR librarian's work is never done - but it is going to be ignored for a few days!
So my incomplete work has 12 chapters. Others have mentioned reading copies with only initials - mine has the characters' names.
I love the start - the idea of a Jane Austen character as a seaside resort developer had enormous appeal for me! But this is the last book JA worked on - and she was already unwell. Her character studies become nastier than I am used to from Jane. I'm sure JA would have revised and made the storyline sharper if she has lived and smoothed out the rough edges on some characters.
By the end - not enjoyable for me.
I will watch the TV adaptation when it hits my shores. Everyone just better be prepared for some vinaigrette sniffing and pearl clutching as I just don't associate Jane Austen with sexy times.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
March 11, 2025
4 stars - this is Austen’s “unfinished” beginning of a novel, an it promise to be quite different from her other works, Sanditon itself is an up and coming Seaside "resort". The characters introduced were also quite remarkable - the Parker family of hypochondriacs (written when Jane’s own health was failing) and Miss Lambe, a young heiress from the West Indies. I also read the unfinished work and not one of the versions finished by others, as I did not feel there was not enough direction given by Austen as to how things would ultimately transpire. Still quite interesting and enjoyable, if not necessarily satisfying.
January 3, 2022
This OUP edition of Austen's unfinished novel (really, it's just a fragment containing 11 chapters, about 65 pages) has some interesting context in terms of an introduction and notes but the text itself is disappointing and even a bit tiresome in places.
Started in 1817 after Waterloo and the end of the Napoleonic Wars, this seems like a departure for Austen: the setting is the south coast and the main characters are financial speculators and what we would term property developers working to create a seaside tourist resort in the fishing village of Sanditon to rival Brighton. But, sadly, the 'heroine', Charlotte, has no real personality and is, surprisingly, blank as a character, not even saying much which is strange as so much of Austen's skill lies in her dialogue. The Parker sisters and youngest brother are hypochondriacs so imagine pages of talk about their imaginary ailments akin to the much shorter complaints of Mr Woodhouse from Emma. And the 'villain', Sir Edward Denham, is annoyingly verbose and rather cartoonish as he models himself on Lovelace from Richardson's Clarissa, and feels like a throwback to John Thorpe from Northanger Abbey. For anyone who has watched the TV series, Austen barely introduces Sidney Parker and Miss Lambe before the fragment breaks off, and Charlotte doesn't even get the opportunity to go bathing in the sea.
It's intriguing, of course, to think where Austen might have taken this, and notable that she introduces a mixed race character ('half-mulatto' is Austen's term so presumably with an acknowledged Black grandparent), Miss Lambe, a sugar heiress from the West Indies. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it seems that Austen senses an opening up of her world which is reflected in this book that veers away from the country towns, London and Bath of her previous works, and which also pays attention to a slightly wider society. Economics has always been crucial in Austen's world but here it's not just talked about in terms of the marriage market but in how commercial supply and demand if Sanditon becomes a successful tourist destination might push up the prices of both commodities and servants' wages, impacting on Lady Denham's return on investment, something she discusses quite openly.
So an intriguing start to what might have been a new direction for Austen but sadly broken off and abandoned as she fell ill and died at just 41.
Started in 1817 after Waterloo and the end of the Napoleonic Wars, this seems like a departure for Austen: the setting is the south coast and the main characters are financial speculators and what we would term property developers working to create a seaside tourist resort in the fishing village of Sanditon to rival Brighton. But, sadly, the 'heroine', Charlotte, has no real personality and is, surprisingly, blank as a character, not even saying much which is strange as so much of Austen's skill lies in her dialogue. The Parker sisters and youngest brother are hypochondriacs so imagine pages of talk about their imaginary ailments akin to the much shorter complaints of Mr Woodhouse from Emma. And the 'villain', Sir Edward Denham, is annoyingly verbose and rather cartoonish as he models himself on Lovelace from Richardson's Clarissa, and feels like a throwback to John Thorpe from Northanger Abbey. For anyone who has watched the TV series, Austen barely introduces Sidney Parker and Miss Lambe before the fragment breaks off, and Charlotte doesn't even get the opportunity to go bathing in the sea.
It's intriguing, of course, to think where Austen might have taken this, and notable that she introduces a mixed race character ('half-mulatto' is Austen's term so presumably with an acknowledged Black grandparent), Miss Lambe, a sugar heiress from the West Indies. With the end of the Napoleonic Wars, it seems that Austen senses an opening up of her world which is reflected in this book that veers away from the country towns, London and Bath of her previous works, and which also pays attention to a slightly wider society. Economics has always been crucial in Austen's world but here it's not just talked about in terms of the marriage market but in how commercial supply and demand if Sanditon becomes a successful tourist destination might push up the prices of both commodities and servants' wages, impacting on Lady Denham's return on investment, something she discusses quite openly.
So an intriguing start to what might have been a new direction for Austen but sadly broken off and abandoned as she fell ill and died at just 41.
March 1, 2020
Obviously this book is incomplete, but I still love Austen no matter what and even an unfinished book can show the potential for beauty. It was going to be amazing. The new PBS/BBC series has brought it to life in a beautiful way, and I hope it gets re-upped for a second series. 💔
January 16, 2021
τι να πω που δεν έχει ειπωθεί;
και η σειρά μου άρεσε κι ας έμεινε μισή κι αυτή...
συνανάγνωση με Μαριλένα <3
και η σειρά μου άρεσε κι ας έμεινε μισή κι αυτή...
συνανάγνωση με Μαριλένα <3
July 13, 2023
Welp, I was curious, so I read this. It's an unfinished book, so maybe I shouldn't have...? Nothing much happened in this fragment of the story.
Charlotte visits this family in Sanditon, and she meets some people. Some are sort of the worst. And some seem potentially interesting. But that's pretty much all we really find out. I feel like this fragment is like the first 50 pages of Jane Austen's books where you don't really get what's going on. You're just reading because you trust that it will all make sense eventually, and the characters and plot will start to click. But with this, I never really see where everything ties together.
Also, I can't tell where this is headed at all, so I can't even complete the story in my head, like I did with The Watsons: A Fragment.
Charlotte visits this family in Sanditon, and she meets some people. Some are sort of the worst. And some seem potentially interesting. But that's pretty much all we really find out. I feel like this fragment is like the first 50 pages of Jane Austen's books where you don't really get what's going on. You're just reading because you trust that it will all make sense eventually, and the characters and plot will start to click. But with this, I never really see where everything ties together.
Also, I can't tell where this is headed at all, so I can't even complete the story in my head, like I did with The Watsons: A Fragment.
July 3, 2022
This is an unfinished book as this was the book the author was working on when she passed. In this one, Sandition is a about a coastal resort where a bunch of characters reside.
Let me first say that this is an unfair review and I know it is. But I cannot give the book anything else but two stars. I tried to be open minded as I knew going into this book it was unfinished. The problem for me is that we were introduced to character after character. And the whole time I knew that I will never know what happens to these characters. Basically, this book was the first act where it is all set up and no drama or action. Therefore, it affected my enjoyment of this book. I will say that I love how the author writes. The prose is excellent and I immediately felt like I was transported back in time. The problem was that it was incomplete and even though I knew it I just could not enjoy this unfinished novel.
Like I said take my review with a grain of salt. My review isn't fair and other readers might be immediately immersed in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I could not as I knew the whole affair would not be played out. That being said, I do enjoy her writing immensely and I will definitely read more of her work. I will just make sure it is completed.
Let me first say that this is an unfair review and I know it is. But I cannot give the book anything else but two stars. I tried to be open minded as I knew going into this book it was unfinished. The problem for me is that we were introduced to character after character. And the whole time I knew that I will never know what happens to these characters. Basically, this book was the first act where it is all set up and no drama or action. Therefore, it affected my enjoyment of this book. I will say that I love how the author writes. The prose is excellent and I immediately felt like I was transported back in time. The problem was that it was incomplete and even though I knew it I just could not enjoy this unfinished novel.
Like I said take my review with a grain of salt. My review isn't fair and other readers might be immediately immersed in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I could not as I knew the whole affair would not be played out. That being said, I do enjoy her writing immensely and I will definitely read more of her work. I will just make sure it is completed.
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August 29, 2019Reread -- I read it in this edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
I won’t rate this as it was unfinished at the time of Austen’s death (12 chapters that add up to fewer than 60 pages in my edition) but it was on its way to being at least a 4-star read.
The words flow: there’s nary a breath in the characters’ speeches, yet they are easy to follow. The skewering of the rich with too much time on their hands—their obsessive land speculations; their ridiculous hypochondria; their dangerous vanities— is merciless. A new type of setting for Austen is open to the handling of a diverse set of characters. The reference to a young heiress, recently come to Sanditon, described as a half Mulatto, chilly and tender, is tantalizing.
It’s perhaps pointless to wonder how this work might’ve been finished or revised; but it seems poised to have broken brilliant new ground for Austen.
I won’t rate this as it was unfinished at the time of Austen’s death (12 chapters that add up to fewer than 60 pages in my edition) but it was on its way to being at least a 4-star read.
The words flow: there’s nary a breath in the characters’ speeches, yet they are easy to follow. The skewering of the rich with too much time on their hands—their obsessive land speculations; their ridiculous hypochondria; their dangerous vanities— is merciless. A new type of setting for Austen is open to the handling of a diverse set of characters. The reference to a young heiress, recently come to Sanditon, described as a half Mulatto, chilly and tender, is tantalizing.
It’s perhaps pointless to wonder how this work might’ve been finished or revised; but it seems poised to have broken brilliant new ground for Austen.
May 31, 2021
I saw Sanditon (the unfinished version) by Jane Austen in the hoopla bonus borrows for May so I thought I might as well read it. Too bad that Austen died before finishing it! Some of the characters are very strong as drawn, and I'm not it was obviously heading where others have taken it (but I have enjoyed at least one of those versions.) I love the upper class and all their ailments, and I assume Jane Austen loves to poke fun at people like this.
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December 3, 20199/10
This was just the appetizer course to a complete Austen novel. What she might have done ...
... cut is the branch that might have grown full straight ...
This was just the appetizer course to a complete Austen novel. What she might have done ...
... cut is the branch that might have grown full straight ...
April 13, 2017
This story was such a good start. Of course, we who love Jane Austen know that she couldn't finish it, because of her illness. So we will have to wonder where the story goes.
The story follows a group of people at a health spa, so you gotta figure this went along with her illness and the many methods she used to treat herself. The characters in the story are funny and well developed in just a short while. I always wonder if she based her characters on people she knew or an amalgamation of people.
Austen is the Queen of One liners, "We have many leisure hours & read a great deal." Ahh, the dream. "He felt & he wrote & he forgot." Yep, I feel ya. "His genius & his susceptibilities might lead him into some aberrations--but who is perfect?" Couldn't have said it better. "I am very sorry you met with an accident, but upon my word, you deserved it." so kind. "Her nerves are a good deal deranged." I know her! "I must hurry home, for Susan is to have leaches at one o'clock." Yay, Susan!
Although this is just the beginning of what I'm sure would have been another classic, it is still worth reading, just for the enjoyment of her wonderful wit.
The story follows a group of people at a health spa, so you gotta figure this went along with her illness and the many methods she used to treat herself. The characters in the story are funny and well developed in just a short while. I always wonder if she based her characters on people she knew or an amalgamation of people.
Austen is the Queen of One liners, "We have many leisure hours & read a great deal." Ahh, the dream. "He felt & he wrote & he forgot." Yep, I feel ya. "His genius & his susceptibilities might lead him into some aberrations--but who is perfect?" Couldn't have said it better. "I am very sorry you met with an accident, but upon my word, you deserved it." so kind. "Her nerves are a good deal deranged." I know her! "I must hurry home, for Susan is to have leaches at one o'clock." Yay, Susan!
Although this is just the beginning of what I'm sure would have been another classic, it is still worth reading, just for the enjoyment of her wonderful wit.
July 25, 2020
Giving this five stars because I am entirely sure this would have been my favorite Jane Austen book, had she been able to finish! A set up that reminds me quite a bit of Persuasion, with the addition of professional invalids, a mysterious West Indian heiress, and a very handsome and quick witted gentlemen, all coming together with a heroine who is intelligent and observant and bold without being mean or overly self-effacing.
Let's all pour out a cup of tea for the book that could have been!
PS- Yes, I am aware there is a BBC/Masterpiece series that continues the story. No, I haven't seen it. Yes, I plan to!
Let's all pour out a cup of tea for the book that could have been!
PS- Yes, I am aware there is a BBC/Masterpiece series that continues the story. No, I haven't seen it. Yes, I plan to!
June 8, 2022
Meh. What can I say? I'm judging Austen's fragments for what they are – unfinished, only mere beginnings of possible novels. So I'm not expecting much character development or great plot points, only a set up that will leave me wanting more. Unfortunately, this snippet didn't provide that.
The novel centres on Charlotte Heywood, the eldest of the daughters still at home in the large family of a country gentleman from Willingden, Sussex. The narrative opens when the carriage of Mr and Mrs Parker of Sanditon topples over on a hill near the Heywood home. Because Mr Parker is injured in the crash, and the carriage needs repairs, the Parkers stay with the Heywood family for a fortnight. During this time, Mr Parker talks fondly of Sanditon, a town which until a few years before had been a small, unpretentious fishing village. With his business partner, Lady Denham, Mr Parker hopes to make Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort. Mr Parker's enormous enthusiasm for his plans to improve and modernise Sanditon has resulted in the installation of bathing machines and the construction of a new home for himself and his family near the seashore. Upon repair of the carriage and improvement to Mr Parker's foot, the Parkers return to Sanditon, bringing Charlotte with them as their summer guest.
Austen started writing Sanditon in 1817, but abandoned the project after 70 pages (12 chapters) due to sickness and her eventual death that same year. In my humble opinion, this fragment isn't a promising start for any novel. The characters were quite dull (only Charlotte Heywood was somewhat interesting), and there was no set up for any exciting romance or possible love interest. Only the setting – Sanditon, the fashionable seaside resort – made me curious to dive deeper into the story.
But all in all, I don't think I would've continued reading this novel – had it been finished – after such a weak opening, had it not been written by Austen.
The novel centres on Charlotte Heywood, the eldest of the daughters still at home in the large family of a country gentleman from Willingden, Sussex. The narrative opens when the carriage of Mr and Mrs Parker of Sanditon topples over on a hill near the Heywood home. Because Mr Parker is injured in the crash, and the carriage needs repairs, the Parkers stay with the Heywood family for a fortnight. During this time, Mr Parker talks fondly of Sanditon, a town which until a few years before had been a small, unpretentious fishing village. With his business partner, Lady Denham, Mr Parker hopes to make Sanditon into a fashionable seaside resort. Mr Parker's enormous enthusiasm for his plans to improve and modernise Sanditon has resulted in the installation of bathing machines and the construction of a new home for himself and his family near the seashore. Upon repair of the carriage and improvement to Mr Parker's foot, the Parkers return to Sanditon, bringing Charlotte with them as their summer guest.
Austen started writing Sanditon in 1817, but abandoned the project after 70 pages (12 chapters) due to sickness and her eventual death that same year. In my humble opinion, this fragment isn't a promising start for any novel. The characters were quite dull (only Charlotte Heywood was somewhat interesting), and there was no set up for any exciting romance or possible love interest. Only the setting – Sanditon, the fashionable seaside resort – made me curious to dive deeper into the story.
But all in all, I don't think I would've continued reading this novel – had it been finished – after such a weak opening, had it not been written by Austen.
July 4, 2023
I know for a fact that I would have loved Jane Austen's last novel! As always, you can see the wit in her writing and how she makes fun of some of the characters. Who knows, it might have been in my second place to Pride and Prejudice. Sadly, she wasn't able to finish it and it left me wanting to know more about the characters and their relationships.
July 27, 2024
I'm so sad that Jane Austen was not well enough to finish this story. 😔 What a brilliant start! All her trademark humor and iron in full display, and what a brilliant MC Charlotte Heywood was turning out to be. I'm going to have to read some finished versions, but my how I wish Austen had been given just a little bit more time!
March 9, 2021
Bolest i lečenje se u ovom (nedovršenom) romanu pominju češće nego u medicinskom udžbeniku. U kom je pravcu Džejn krenula sa ovom knjigom nije moguće reći. Izludelo me kukanje likova zbog apsolutno svega: vremenske prognoze, brdovitih predela, znojenja??
Gde je PBS pronašao romantiku dostojnu adaptacije, nemam pojma.. U 12 poglavlja svako je svakog 120 puta nazvao invalidom, a legitimnog osnova za takvu tvrdnju, naravno, nigde nije bilo..
Čitajte po dvadeseti put „Gordost i predrasudu“, ako treba. Ovo zaobiđite.
Gde je PBS pronašao romantiku dostojnu adaptacije, nemam pojma.. U 12 poglavlja svako je svakog 120 puta nazvao invalidom, a legitimnog osnova za takvu tvrdnju, naravno, nigde nije bilo..
Čitajte po dvadeseti put „Gordost i predrasudu“, ako treba. Ovo zaobiđite.
April 24, 2023
So much wasted potential . You can clearly see the maturity and the growth in her writing in comparison to her previous works. In my opinion, if she had finished this it would have been one of her best-if not the best- of her books.
March 21, 2023
✨The Watsons & Sanditon
The two incomplete stories by Jane Austen. I enjoyed reading both but I read only what is written by Jane not the continuation which is written by other. Both would have been good works. There's 2019 series based on Sanditon which I haven't watched yet but have heard real good reviews about.
Star rating : 🌟🌟🌟.5/5 coz well it's incomplete and it nags me not to finish the book.
The two incomplete stories by Jane Austen. I enjoyed reading both but I read only what is written by Jane not the continuation which is written by other. Both would have been good works. There's 2019 series based on Sanditon which I haven't watched yet but have heard real good reviews about.
Star rating : 🌟🌟🌟.5/5 coz well it's incomplete and it nags me not to finish the book.
March 11, 2020
I watched only the first two episodes of PBS' recent production of Sanditon. Loathing is not too strong a word. I have tried to recover from the trauma and purge the images from my mind.
But they haunt me. What could Jane Austen have written that could be transformed into something so simultaneously dull and repulsive as the miniseries on PBS? Did she really come up with that boring nonsense about a doctor demonstrating his weird steam heated bathtub? Or that whole stupid thing about the pineapple? Did she create a man as unpleasant and mean as Sidney, and intend this jackass for one of her heroines, even one as blah as Charlotte? Did she have this "hero" at one point emerge from the sea, stark naked for Charlotte's viewing pleasure? And did Jane write a scene about one character furtively jerking off another character in the woods? Or another scene implying a creepy incestuous relationship between a gentleman and his half-sister?
Of course I knew that the answer to all these questions was HELLS NO!!! But I decided to finally read the real, unfinished snippet of a novel. I was reassured - not one of the scenes described above from the sexed-up horror I saw on screen sprang from the mind or pen of Jane Austen.
I only wish she had lived to finish Sanditon. From the very little that exists, it promised of being every bit as elegant, witty, and entertaining as her other novels.
But they haunt me. What could Jane Austen have written that could be transformed into something so simultaneously dull and repulsive as the miniseries on PBS? Did she really come up with that boring nonsense about a doctor demonstrating his weird steam heated bathtub? Or that whole stupid thing about the pineapple? Did she create a man as unpleasant and mean as Sidney, and intend this jackass for one of her heroines, even one as blah as Charlotte? Did she have this "hero" at one point emerge from the sea, stark naked for Charlotte's viewing pleasure? And did Jane write a scene about one character furtively jerking off another character in the woods? Or another scene implying a creepy incestuous relationship between a gentleman and his half-sister?
Of course I knew that the answer to all these questions was HELLS NO!!! But I decided to finally read the real, unfinished snippet of a novel. I was reassured - not one of the scenes described above from the sexed-up horror I saw on screen sprang from the mind or pen of Jane Austen.
I only wish she had lived to finish Sanditon. From the very little that exists, it promised of being every bit as elegant, witty, and entertaining as her other novels.
September 3, 2019
This last unfinished work by Jane Austen is the beginnings of a social satire that is mainly set in a seaside town called Sanditon.
The opening is comical by its absurd situation (a civil conversation ensues whilst Parker is nursing an injured and very painful ankle) but really the ground is being set for a coming of age novel of a young woman who leaves home to Sanditon for the first time to encounter people and new experiences.
In this fragment there was enough here for me to have a sense of the characters and their conflicts. I tend to return to Jane Austen’s novels when I need something light and witty, this wasn’t her best one for this but I still found it interesting as it was the last piece she was working on.
The opening is comical by its absurd situation (a civil conversation ensues whilst Parker is nursing an injured and very painful ankle) but really the ground is being set for a coming of age novel of a young woman who leaves home to Sanditon for the first time to encounter people and new experiences.
In this fragment there was enough here for me to have a sense of the characters and their conflicts. I tend to return to Jane Austen’s novels when I need something light and witty, this wasn’t her best one for this but I still found it interesting as it was the last piece she was working on.
December 21, 2025
Una lástima que esta novela haya quedado inacabada. Los temas que trató en el texto eran muy distintos a los que solía escribir. Además, nos estaba llevando a una zona geográfica muy novedosa para la época, me parece que pudo haber sido una gran historia.
March 2, 2019
Disappointing that Austen sadly never got to finish this, it had the beginnings of a charming story.
December 16, 2019
Αχ και να είχε προλάβει η Ωστιν να το ολοκληρώσει...
April 10, 2020
I love Jane Austen, and I think one thing I love about her the most is how unapologetically judgmental her heroines are. Charlotte is probably the most confounding in this mix, as Jane doesn’t describe her character to a point where I feel she has the right to judgment (not like anyone ever does). But, at least Elizabeth Bennett had her father’s disposition, and Emma was a lonely child with a high opinion of herself from being spoiled. It was described into their character in almost an endearing and forgivable fashion… Charlotte didn’t seem to have much personality beyond her judgment which disappointed me. I almost felt her less of a heroine and more of a background narrator, watching the story unfold from the outside.
“I make no apologies for my heroine’s vanity. If there are young ladies in the world at her time of life more dull of fancy and more careless of pleasing, I know them not and never wish to know them.”
On the flip side of this disappointment was the fact that most of the other characters in the story were very silly, and I may have found myself judging them as well, should I have found myself in Charlotte’s position. I found myself continually saying “Ah, this must be the Mr. Collins character of this story.” There were a few of them, to say the least!
I definitely give credit to the woman who wrote the remainder of the book. Jane Austen didn’t give her much to work with! By the end of chapter 11, the end of Jane’s work, you had been introduced to many of the characters… but, nothing was REALLY happening, yet. Although, I will say that I don’t know if I agree with the direction the story took. I think I could have found something that was a little more interesting. But, with a spoiler-free review, I can’t really go into how I would have changed the direction.
All in all, This “Other Woman” did a good job of continuing Jane’s wit, tongue in cheek look at the world around her, and romance. So, I can’t complain too much!
“I make no apologies for my heroine’s vanity. If there are young ladies in the world at her time of life more dull of fancy and more careless of pleasing, I know them not and never wish to know them.”
On the flip side of this disappointment was the fact that most of the other characters in the story were very silly, and I may have found myself judging them as well, should I have found myself in Charlotte’s position. I found myself continually saying “Ah, this must be the Mr. Collins character of this story.” There were a few of them, to say the least!
I definitely give credit to the woman who wrote the remainder of the book. Jane Austen didn’t give her much to work with! By the end of chapter 11, the end of Jane’s work, you had been introduced to many of the characters… but, nothing was REALLY happening, yet. Although, I will say that I don’t know if I agree with the direction the story took. I think I could have found something that was a little more interesting. But, with a spoiler-free review, I can’t really go into how I would have changed the direction.
All in all, This “Other Woman” did a good job of continuing Jane’s wit, tongue in cheek look at the world around her, and romance. So, I can’t complain too much!
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