I have been saving up this book for myself for two reasons. First, it's Jane Austen's last novel — once I read this, there remain only a few fragments of her work that I have not devoured. Alas. And second, I was afraid that the completion of the story (written in 1975) by "Another Lady" would disappoint. I was correct on both counts. Do be aware that this review will contain spoilers.

Charlotte Heywood is a sensible young woman of twenty-two, the eldest child in a family of fourteen children. Because of the number of children, the Heywoods are never able to visit anywhere fashionable. So when chance throws the Heywoods together with the gentleman proprietor of a new seaside resort, Sanditon, the family is delighted that Charlotte is invited to spend the summer there. The Parkers are a kind and respectable family, though Mr. Parker is perhaps a trifle gullible on the point of his pet project, Sanditon.

When Charlotte arrives, she finds plentiful subjects for her great pleasure, observing the behavior of others. Lady Denham is the principal leader of Sanditon society, and despite her riches she is shamefully parsimonious, selfish, and mean. Her suspicious nature makes life very difficult for her dependent cousin, the lovely Miss Clara Brereton. Sir Edward Denham and his sister Miss Denham are hangers-on at Lady Denham's elbow, hoping for a share of the inheritance. Sir Edward — a passionate young man with more feeling than sense — hopes to woo the fair Clara. But what does Clara want?

Add to the mix a young mulatto heiress of weak health, Miss Lambe; two coquettish young fortune-hunters, the Misses Beaufort; Mr. Parker's two hypochondriac sisters, Diana and Susan, who have taught their other brother, Arthur, to be as worried over his health as they; and Mr. Sidney Parker, the last of the Parker siblings, who is a joking, intelligent, and apparently untruthful young man. He brings his two friends, Henry Brudenall and Reginald Catton, to the neighborhood as well. The young ladies are excessively interested in the possibilities afforded by the influx of so many eligible gentlemen. Charlotte, feeling herself possessed of no particular beauty or fortune to tempt any of them, is content to observe the machinations of the party as each person politely connives to get his way.

Jane Austen's part of the story ends with chapter eleven, and it really is a pity that she was unable to finish. I would love to know the full storyline that she had in mind. While it is not immediately apparent where the join comes in, things get a little out of hand as the story progresses. The plot becomes a bit uncharacteristic and the characters begin to say and do things that do not always feel authentic. Sir Edward, for example, seems altogether unfit to be an Austenian character (even for a villain) when he fails to carry off Clara and decides to abduct Charlotte instead. I know Austen laid the foundation for this with Sir Edward's unhealthy obsession with novels in which the hero can never control his passion for the heroine, but eesh! Abduction in an Austen novel?

The person most inconsistent with the Austenian formula, however, is Charlotte herself. I can understand how she would inadvertently fall in love with Sidney, but to confess that she would have done whatever he wanted, regardless of her moral convictions — it just doesn't feel right. Austen's heroines are perhaps weak at times in controlling their feelings, but they can always control their actions and regulate their behavior with good sense. The way it sounds in this book is that Charlotte would have eloped with Sidney, against all her notions of morality, if he had but asked her. Sidney's desire, to have a wife who is sensible in all things except him, comes across as egotistical and selfish rather than amusing (as it would seem that "Another Lady" intended). The justification for all the lies he tells throughout the story feels a bit threadbare.

But there were some good points with the completion, too. I enjoyed the other characters and found them mostly believable. The dialogue was fairly good, though sometimes the acerbic narrative asides were a bit too pointed ("look at me! I'm being snarky in Regency language!"). However, I was mollified by the note at the end of the completion, in which the author gives the reasons for her plot additions and apologizes for the deficiencies of her work. It's good that she acknowledges that she cannot perfectly imitate Austen's style — because, of course, she can't. I'm not sure anyone can. "Another Lady" was certainly brave to make the attempt!

Overall I would say I enjoyed this quite a bit, despite its flaws. It was wonderful escaping to another Austenian world, with all its absurd characters who are somehow believable. I would tweak the completion a bit, mostly in terms of the abduction scene and the moral character of Charlotte, but I'm glad I read it. And it could have been much worse; with the "continuations" of Austen's novels written nowadays, with graphic sex scenes and extremely modern characters, I feel very thankful that this completion did not veer into territory so antithetical to Austen's portrayal of Regency England. It could have been better, but it also could have been much worse, and I believe that most Austen fans would enjoy this. An enjoyable read. ( )

I'm an Austen fan, so nothing more natural than reading everything she had ever written. Sandition is one of her unfinnished works, in fact is the novel she was writting when she died. This edition has a finished version of the story written by an anonymous lady.

She just wrote the first eleven chapters which are mainly focused on character and set description. While reading these chapters I was frequently thinking that they felt like a draft version, nothing wrong with it specially reading an unfinished work, just something a less fanatic reader should take into account. The draft-ish style ends with the beginning of the Another Lady's
part.

What sould I say about it? First of all I found this part interesting and quite Austen-like, I think the development of the story is certainly in the style Jane Austen would have ended it herself, I mean the matches and relations established are very much in her style and no strangesness aroused from them. The writing style is also good and though it is certainly not Jane's it fits perfectly well.

So where's the problem? I think it's mainly in the ending and in some phrases and little details of the characters behavior that the 'Another Lady' is not faithful to her and a more 20th century approach is taken. Some phrases and manners are so far from the typical from Jane's heroines and suitors that I could not help thinking 'this is not Jane' several times while reading the last chapters.

In spite of these I have greatly enjoyed the book and I am very much satisfied with the brave author that dared to end this novel. ( )

You can certainly tell at some point that Austen has ended and "Another Lady" has begun, but that's ok. I think the book itself keeps to the spirit of Austen very well. Personally, I love the biting sarcasm that harkens back to Austen's earlier works (especially Northanger Abbey). Charlotte is a great heroine, although she will never be my favorite. Sidney is an utterly fantastic and irresistable character in and of himself. And the supporting cast is rich enough I almost thought I was reading Dickens at times. Overall a very good read. I'm sure I will be revisiting it at some point. ( )

half a jane ( )

I enjoyed this book as much as any other of her books, although this one was actually finished by "another lady". She did an admirable job, though in my opinion. ( )