The Third Sister (1996)

Why I keep reading Jane Austen sequels, I don't know. It's a sad addiction. The books are usually sad, pale things, modern romance tropes dressed up in Regency clothes. ( )

A very readable tale told in a very Jane Austen style about the possible life led by Margaret Dashwood. In Sense & Sensibility she was a peripheral character. Here is her imagined blossoming into womanhood told much as I think Jane Austen would have written. Also considered are the ongoing lives of Elinor and Marianne, Colonel Brandon, Mother Dashwood, et al. ( )

The Third Sister by Julia Barrett (a pseudonym) continues Jane Austen’s novel Sense & Sensibility. We follow the life of Margaret Dashwood, the third and youngest of the Dashwood sisters, some four years after the end of Austen’s novel. Glimpses are offered of the lives of other relatives and neighbors. New characters include a Lady Clara and two young gentlemen, a Mr. de Plessy and a Mr. Osborne, who is related to Margaret’s sister-in-law.
Unfortunately, the adaptation could be more successful. We do meet many of the familiar characters and locations. The writing style approximates Austen’s with reasonable success, but the language lacks her nuance. Some deviation from Austen’s facts and characterization could be overlooked if there were adequate justification, but here it only manages to underline other defects in the story. Completely missing are Austen’s grasp of politeness, sense, circumstances, character, and drama. For one, most people do not rush into discussing intimate, personally embarrassing history with someone they literally just met. (Even the despicable Mr. Wickham took time to get to it!)
Furthermore, Osborne’s hasty suit to Margaret and its resolution are both begun and hurried away in the last 60 pages. This plot development is where the novel utterly fails, but there are other examples of the action in the text contradicting the word of the text. We learn in the beginning that “[n]ot only was [Marianne’s] judgment precise, her understanding was swift.” It doesn’t show much of judgment at all – let alone understanding! – to accept a man of whose character and financial situation they know nothing, nor to do so on an extremely short acquaintance. As you can guess, Osborne’s scandalous behavior is discovered in the nick of time for Margaret to detach herself and form a new attachment. If I were Jane Austen, I’d be rolling over in my grave. Only for the most ardent Austen fans.
EJ 01/2011