Sanditon by Jane Austen and "Another Lady" (Marie Dobbs)

Summary and Review:

I love Jane Austen and have read each of her novels multiple times, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Sanditon, Austen's last-attempted, unfinished novel, which was begun less than six months before she died. Austen only finished 11 chapters of Sanditon, which she originally titled, "The Brothers," before she passed away. She bequeathed the manuscript to her niece, and work on it has been completed by several different authors. The version I read was originally credited only to Jane Austen and "Another Lady," but subsequent editions revealed the author's name to be Marie Dobbs. The author bio on the back of the book claims that "Another Lady" is a "pseudonym for a novelist who lives in England;" however, I was unable to find any other works written by Dobbs. She is however, obviously an Austen aficionado, with a clear understanding of Austen's writing style. I believe she finished the novel beautifully.

Sanditon begins when Mr. and Mrs. Parker, a young married couple traveling home from London, overturn their coach. The Parker's are thus compelled to accept the hospitality of the Heywood family for two weeks while their coach is repaired and Mr. Parker's ankle, which was sprained in the accident, heals.

Mr. Heywood is a gentleman farmer with fourteen children. He and Mrs. Heywood live comfortably but frugally, and rarely travel outside the bounds of their parish, Willingden. Despite Mr. Parker's best efforts, they cannot be convinced to accompany the Parkers back to Sanditon, an emerging resort town in which Mr. Parker has invested, and which has become his new obsession. With her characteristic humor, Austen informs the reader that "Sanditon was a second wife and four children to [Mr. Parker], hardly less dear, and certainly more engrossing." The easygoing Heywoods, however, agree to allow their eldest daughter, Charlotte, to accompany the Parker's to Sanditon for the rest of the summer, which is where the real Austen-action begins. In Sanditon, Charlotte is introduced to the polite society of the seaside resort and, away from her family for the first time, she meets new sides to her own personality which she never before knew. Charlotte prides herself on being level-headed and and sensible; however when she is introduced to Sidney Parker, Mr. Parker's charming and good-naturedly manipulative younger brother, she meets her match. Despite her best efforts, it seems that Charlotte will find romance on her summer holiday.

The characters in Sanditon will be familiar: although the population of Sanditon is small (much to Mr. Parker's chagrin), all of our favorite Austen archetypes are on the scene. Charlotte is reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. She is charming, sensible, witty, and high-principled. She is also attractive, although certainly not the most beautiful girl to grace Sanditon's social scene. Like Elizabeth, she tends to sit back and survey those around her with an amused, and at times self-satisfied, air. The hero, Sidney, reminds me of Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey, educated, sarcastic, charming and flirtatious, albeit extremely confusing at times for the heroine. Clara Brereton seems an easy match for Jane Fairfax, the beautiful, mysterious, sometimes-foil of the heroine. And of course all of our other Austen favorites are there as well--Lord Edward is Mr. Collins meets Henry Crawford, and his sister, Miss Denham, channels Caroline Bingley. We have the kind but bumbling Mr. and Mrs. Parker, the frivolous Miss Beauforts, the hypochondriac Miss Parkers, and the haughty Lady Denham. Of course none of the characters is a carbon copy of anyone from Austen's other works. Each is delightfully unique, with his or her own quirks, yet they all fit seamlessly into the world that Austen's readers know and love. The biggest departure character-wise, in my mind, is Miss Lambe. She is a sickly heiress from the West Indies who is mulatto, to my knowledge the only character of color in any of Austen's works. Although I don't know how Austen originally intended this character to be used, the storyline created for her by Dobbs is probably my very favorite in the entire book.

I loved Sanditon. I could not have identified the spot where Austen's manuscript ended and Dobbs picked up the narrative without the "Apology from the Collaborator," which Dobbs included at the end of the book. In the apology, Dobbs humbly excuses herself, explaining that she is no Austen. However she comes much closer than I expected. I haven't read any other continuations of this novel, but I can't think they'd get much better than this. Although the plot twists at the end of the novel were a little less subtle than what one would expect from Austen, the book still sparkles with her humor, sarcasm, delightfully biting wit, and flair for the perfect romance. I think that any Austen fan would love Sanditon. ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (8/10)

Content:

Blood and Gore: N/A
Sex: N/A, although one of the female characters is abducted by a male character with dubious motives
Offensive Language: N/A