Jane Austen's Sanditon: With an Essay by Janet Todd

by Janet Todd, Jane Austen

Coming to PBS Masterpiece Classic soon! Gorgeous, profound, delightful, useful, original, this fully illustrated, informative volume combines Jane Austen's Sanditon novel and Janet Todd's ground-breaking essay. “I so enjoyed Janet Todd's beautifully produced book.” Andrew Davies, screenwriter. Sanditon is Jane Austen’s last novel, left unfinished when she died. A comedy, it continues the strain of burlesque and caricature she wrote as a teenager and in private throughout her life. This beautifully illustrated volume combines the full novel and Todd’s ground-breaking essay, where she contextualizes Austen’s life and work, Sanditon’s connection with Northanger Abbey (1818) and the Austen family’s speculation in England and the West Indies. She examines the moral and social problems of capitalism, entrepreneurship, and whether wealth trickles down to benefit the place it is made. In explaining the early nineteenth-century culture of the exploitation of hypochondria, health fads, seaside resorts, cures, she contends that Sanditon is an innovative, ebullient study of human beings’ vagaries - rather than using common sense, Sanditon’s characters follow intuition and bodily signs believing that desire can be translated into physical facts and speech can transform fantasy into reality. Todd shows Austen’s themes to be akin to contemporary the mistakes of the self-deluded reveal the inevitable, ridiculous gap between how we think of ourselves and how we appear and sound to others.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Regency, Romance

208 pages, Hardcover

Published August 27, 2019

About the author

Janet Todd (Jan) is a novelist, biographer, literary critic and internationally renowned scholar, known for her work on
women’s writing and feminism. Her most recent books include
the novel: Don't You Know There's A War On?;
edition and essay: Jane Austen’s Sanditon;
memoir: Radiation Diaries: Cancer, Memory
and Fragments of a Life in Words;
biography: Aphra Behn: A Secret Life;
the novel: A Man of Genius 2016.
Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden: An Illustrated Novel, forthcoming 2021

A co-founder of the journal Women’s Writing, she has published biographies and critical work on many authors,including Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughters, Mary (Shelley) and Fanny (Death And The Maidens) , and the Irish-Republican sympathiser, traveller and medical student, Lady Mount Cashell (Daughters of Ireland).

Born in Wales, Janet Todd grew up in Britain, Bermuda and Ceylon/Sri Lanka and has worked at schools and universities in Ghana, Puerto Rico, India, the US (Douglass College,
Rutgers, Florida), Scotland (Glasgow, Aberdeen) and England (Cambridge, UEA). A former President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, she is now an Honorary Fellow of
Newnham College.

Reviews

[Meredith (Austenesque Reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seaside Speculations and a Scrutinizing Look at Sanditon


OVERVIEW:

With the new eight-part period-drama adaptation written by screenwriter Andrew Davies coming out this supremely elegant, informative hardcover edition of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sanditon, is a timely release! For those who are already enjoying or anticipate enjoying this series, an acquaintance with Jane Austen’s original text would be a beneficial undertaking. And what could be a better way to understand and analyze this unfinished fragment than an introductory essay by academic scholar and author Janet Todd?

WHAT IS IN THIS EDITION OF SANDITON:

- 70 page introductory essay
- Illustrations, photos, and Regency engravings
- Jane Austen’s 11 and a half chapter fragment of Sanditon, with text edited by Janet Todd + endnotes
- A short essay on continuations of Sanditon
- Further reading suggestions and list of illustrations

MY THOUGHTS ON THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAY:

What a splendid study and thoughtful overview of Jane Austen’s writing of Sanditon. Having read a couple of biographies on Jane Austen and knowing a fair share about the important events of her life, I was familiar with some influences and conjectures about this unfinished work, but the meticulous research and perceptive insight of Janet Todd unveiled a much deeper understanding and thought-provoking analysis. In addition to providing a short overview of Jane Austen’s life, Ms. Todd focuses on important events and situations that could have impacted her writing at this time, as well as compares the writing itself to Jane Austen’s previous works.

Some themes and connection were already known to me:

- The Seaside – Jane Austen enjoyed visits to the seaside and sea-bathing, and according to Cassandra experienced a seaside romance.

- Hypochondria – We’ve seen health-obsessed characters with imagined illnesses being mocked before, but since Jane Austen herself was experiencing debilitating symptoms and declining health it introduces a new sense of irony in this tale.

Some themes and connections were entirely new to me:

- Speculation: Is Mr. Parker’s and Lady Denham’s endeavors to make Sanditon a successful resort a risky gamble? The parallels about speculative capitalism in the novel and Jane Austen’s own experience with it were fascinating to learn!

- The Question of Inheritance: Just like with Lady Denham and her hopeful relations, there was an anticipated will and inheritance to bequeath in the Austen family, and I was surprised to learn the connection and impact of this particular parallel in Jane Austen’s life.

MY THOUGHTS ON SANDITON:

It was interesting to learn about the unfavorable opinions about Sanditon from family members and early critics of Jane Austen’s work – how they felt it was hyperbolic and full of exaggerated caricatures. I must admit, I quite love it! I really enjoy clear-eyed/no-nonsense Charlotte and I don’t mind her judgy-ness. (I tend to be judgy too!) And I am fascinated by all the characters we are introduced to and all their promising intrigues. The Parker family and all their eccentricities makes me want to spend more time with them, and I’m dying to know: What is Clara Brereton’s story? What romances develop between all the new arrivals in Sanditon and the unmarried bachelors they meet? And what about Sidney Parker – what sort of hero will he be? The possibilities feel endless and it truly is all speculation as to what Jane Austen had in store for Charlotte, the Parkers, and Sanditon!

CONCLUSION:

With its informative and compelling essay separated into accessible segments, attractive and engaging illustrations, and other helpful back matter this stunning and beautifully-crafted edition of Jane Austen’s Sanditon is a MUST-own for any Jane Austen fan. If you only own one copy of Sanditon, let it be this one! (And if you don’t own one…time to treat yo’ shelf!)

Austenesque Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

First the volume itself. It's a lovely little hardback with a beautiful cover. In the essay section there are some lovely prints and caricature pictures.
The essay by Janet Todd was excellent and the comparisons she made between Jane Austen and characters from the story was very interesting.
The story itself is all about illness and hypochondria and a seaside resort. There are some great characters and it's such a pity it's unfinished because we'll always be left wondering, no matter how many rewrites and 'endings' we get.
This book does not have an ending to Sanditon, it's the essay and the twelve chapters written by Austen.
It's hard to star this but I'm giving it four for the wonderful essay and the volume itself. Well worth having for anyone who's an Austen fan.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanditon, Jane Austen’s last unfinished novel is in the news. A new TV adaptation and continuation of the same name premiered in the UK on ITV on August 25, 2019. The new eight-part series was written by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice 1995) and will be shown on MASTERPIECE PBS in the US starting on January 20, 2020. Inspired by Jane Austen’s 11-and-a-half-chapter fragment, Davies claimed in an early interview that he used up all of Austen’s text in the first 30 minutes of his screenplay. That was about 24,000 words or about one-quarter of an average-sized fiction novel today. To say I was shocked by this admission is an understatement.

Alas, because it was never completed, Sanditon has not received much attention in comparison to Austen other popular novels: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. I am so pleased that the new TV adaptation has brought it into the limelight. It is one of Austen’s forgotten treasures. I have written previously about it in detail, including an introduction, character list, plot summary, and quotes in my blog.

There are few single editions of Sanditon available in print. It is usually lumped in with Austen’s other minor works in a large volume. To remedy that gap, Fentum Press in London has published a stylish new hardcover edition entitled Jane Austen’s Sanditon: with an Essay by Janet Todd. The book has been beautifully designed with interesting and amusing illustrations from Regency-era artists such as Rowlandson, Gillray, and Cruikshank. Its dainty size of 5 ½ inches by 8 inches reminds one of the elegant volumes designed expressly for the comfort of ladies’ delicate hands.

What really brings this edition to the forefront is its editor and introductory essayist Janet Todd. To have such an eminent academic and scholar on Austen and other women’s writing on board really gives the reader the confidence that they are in capable hands. Included with the insightful seventy-page introductory essay is a brief biography of Jane Austen; the complete text transcribed from the original handwritten draft work in progress held in King’s College, Cambridge; endnotes; an essay entitled Anna Lefroy to Andrew Davies: Continuations of Sanditon; further reading; a list of illustrations; and the acknowledgments. In what appears to be a diminutive volume, the reader will be delighted to discover quite the reverse. In addition to the unfinished novel, it is brimming with information and the energy that Austen brought to her final work, perfectly complementing the text.

In the introductory essay, Todd shares insights into Austen’s declining health and frame of mind when she began writing her novel that would later be titled by her family after her death in 1817 at age forty-one. In a deep decline she “…used her last months to compose a work that mocks energetic hypochondriacs and departs radically from the increasing emphasis on the interior life marking the previous novels.” She was also very concerned about family finances after a recent bankruptcy by her brother Henry Austen which affected the entire family. To offset her real-world troubles clouded by health and finances, she instead wrote a book “about risky investments and comic speculators.” Composing at times in pencil because she was too weak to hold a pen, the last written page of the manuscript ominously starts with the date of March 18th and then trails off to a blank page, “The final date signified that Jane Austen would write no more novels.” For those who cherish every word she has written, this is a sobering moment. The empty pages of the homemade booklet that she composed in signify that “what is not written haunts what is, and no number of continuations by cameras and other pens can quite displace the ghostly presence of that emptiness.” The section continues by describing the “smart, silly and ludicrous characters,” that Austen set in an emerging seaside community. Throughout the essay, Todd balances her descriptions of the characters, scenes, Austen’s thematic choices, plot, and the history of the era with examples from Austen’s other novels, novels of her contemporaries, and from real-life, giving us bearing and breadth.

I have written previously about my impressions of the unfinished novel and you can find my complete review of Sanditon on my blog. It is one of Austen’s hidden gems, brought to a polished, shining glow by this lovely new edition. Todd has written a delightful, insightful, and memorable essay on one of Jane Austen’s lost treasures—a true gift to those who admire her genius and value her writing. Sanditon was a novel that was not meant to be, but we can still cherish what of it we have, and dream of what might have been.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose

[Margaret Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for the genius, even incomplete, of Jane Austen, stay for the erudite and contextual introduction by Janet Todd. A lovely edition and worth a place on the shelf.

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanditon: Jane Austen’s unfinished novel – but so much to say about it! We only get a dozen chapters, only enough space to introduce readers to the players of the game and then we are left, open-ended, to imagine what would happen between them in a usual 3-volume length novel: Whose initial charm will turn wicked? Whose fortunes will unexpectedly change for the better, or plummet with the worst? Who will be punished by banishment and who will be rewarded in marriage and fortune?

The novel begins with the same trope as Northanger Abbey. A young country girl, Charlotte Heywood is lucky to be chosen from her many siblings on the parsonage to travel with a sponsor to a spa, resort town and gain experience of the wider world and the types of characters who move in society. Rather than travelling with Mr. and Mrs Allen to Bath like Catherine Morland in NA, Charlotte is hosted by Mr. Tom Parker and his wife, who bring her to Sanditon, a seaside town he hopes will be a top tourist attraction for the wealthy. Sea-bathing, walks to catch the sea air, and a doctor in residence are attractions he hopes will bring in society, which would lead to further entertainment – balls, the theatre, a rowing regatta? That last one is Andrew Davies’ imagined event, as he adapted Austen’s manuscript to the screen for Masterpiece, and had to write his own story and ending, as the manuscript only offers the beginning catalyst and characters.

Sanditon is different from Bath. As Todd point out, Austen visualizes the economics of the town which used to be a fishing village, and is more radical with the types of characters she brings to it. Tom Parker is an unabashed entrepreneur; Miss Lambe is a young mulatto heiress from the West Indies, scheduled to arrive and join society, and the usual suspects: a rich old widow with scheming relatives, a penniless ward, and silly spinster sisters round out society with their own motives and worldviews. I enjoyed reading them in light of Andrew Davies’ screen adaptation I had just viewed.

Tom Parker:
Enthusiastic entrepreneur, Tom Parker reminds me of a younger version of Charles Dickens’ Mr. Dorrit, who lives in an illusion of grandeur as the “Father of the Marshalsea,” which in reality is debtors’ prison - perhaps a sad real-world ending for Mr. Parker, outside of the happy-ending realm of Austen? Readers could get caught up in Mr. Parker’s excitement and dreams of success for his seaside town, but Austen’s narrator undercuts his idealism with satire. Through free indirect discourse, Austen’s narrator both believes in Parker’s dreams and laughs at them. On screen, this satire is lost, or at least the undercutting criticism is muddled, as characters rally around to support Tom even after he makes foolish business decisions. Tom Parker cannot read people: he cannot see his wife’s devotion, and on screen, he fumbles Charlotte and Sidney’s chances by misreading their feelings at the ball. In Austen, the inability to read people is a serious flaw and clue that Tom Parker cannot be the hero the story. In the manuscript, Charlotte is the sensible outsider who evaluates the people she meets with a wary eye. Whereas, on screen, she shames Sidney into furthering his brother’s cause (every time Sidney makes a decision, he looks to Charlotte – physically looks over to her, as if her presence is informing his decision), even if it might bring the family's downfall. Why isn’t Tom’s reasonability questioned?

The Denhams:
Lady Denham is the rich landowner of Sanditon and principle investor in Tom Parker’s project. Sir Edward Denham is one of the rich old widow’s younger relatives, jostling in line to inherit her fortune. In Austen, Sir Edward sees himself as a seducer, and he has the potential to be more than a perverse jerk to be a true villain who makes pivotal consequences in the story. He is another one of Austen’s characters who is under the influence of sentimental novels, and cannot read or quote from them properly. These are signs of a bad apple and his determination “in life [to be] seductive” and fascination to be “a dangerous man” give him motive to shake the protagonists off course (Austen 135).

One of the most beautiful scenes in the screen series is when Miss Denham, Edward’s sister, rides Lord Babington’s carriage pulled by black horses over the sand. Her steely exterior breaks into a smile when she takes the reins to command the horses to run faster. In Andrew Davies’ adaptation, Miss Denham gets the upward arc usually reserved for a deserved heroine. Interesting. Since in the beginning, she behaves as if she could be another scheming, self-interested Miss Crawford, bound for banishment, instead of the happy ending that she wins. Was this meant as consolation for being a victim to her brother and male lines of inheritance? I wasn’t thoroughly convinced.

Clara Brereton:
Janet Todd provides a list of different completions and adaptations of Austen’s manuscript, and summaries that “the main decision of [these subsequent] authors...is whether to let Clara Brereton remain virtuous as she is beautiful or to make her a sly schemer” (Todd 178). Andrew Davies chooses the latter, and I feel Austen sets Clara on a path of indecency and hidden secrets, as Charlotte does see her with Sir Edward in the gardens at Denham House in the manuscript. This faux-pas cancels her chances at winning a spot of good fortune by the heroine’s side. I agree that she is a false friend.

Arthur Parker:
The scene where Arthur is cooking toast on the fire at his sisters’ house, happily pleased that Charlotte let him have the more comfortable seat is my favourite. He shares his toast with Charlotte and tiffs at his sister’s attempt to cut back his decadent diet, as he says to Charlotte: “I will have pleasure of spreading some for you directly,” “without a little butter to soften it, it hurts the coats of the stomach – but there is no convincing some people” (Austen 153). His pleasure for buttered toast is endearing, in a similar way to Mr. Woodhouse’s obsession with simple pleasures and worries in Austen’s Emma. In the Sanditon adaptation, someone remarks that Arthur is the brother out of the three Parkers who is most often surprising, and they way he runs into the water to swim a very capable front crawl (after complaining about going in) and then salute mid-stroke captures that surprising spirit. I think he should end up with Miss Lambe – that would be a surprise catch. But I feel Miss Lambe would uncover the kind-hearted gentleman that Arthur is, after she is wounded by the cads of the world who were simply after her money.

Mr. Stringer:
The Sringer family is only mentioned in the novel as grocers, when Tom assures his wife and Charlotte that they will have a fresh supply of “any vegetables of fruit [that] happen to be wanted” by “buy[ing] the chief of our consumption of the Stringers” (Austen 102-3). Todd remarks that this comment serves as a contrast to traditional economies where landowners grew food on their estate, instead of buying imports. Andrew Davies creates a new character for Mr. Stringer, as the architect of Sanditon who is the grown-up the son of a master mason. He is a working class gentleman and becomes a love interest for Charlotte. I’m on team Stringer! My critique of the series, is that when Charlotte says her goodbyes, Mr. Stringer should ask if can write to her, so that their friendship will continue to grow into a partnership.

Sidney Parker:
Janet Todd’s introduction to this edition includes a photo of the last page of Austen’s manuscript. The last line of chapter 12 runs along the top of the page, then there is a date, March 18th, as if Austen would have started back writing on that day had her poor health not have prevented her (Todd 11). Signs of Austen’s illness began in early 1816 and she died in July 1817. Todd writes that Sanditon is haunted by this mostly blank page, an openness to the manuscript, blank and tantalizing for readers and spin-off authors to fill in. The plot is also left open and tantalizing, as in the last chapter we hear that Sidney, Mr Parker’s wealthy and sensible brother, will be arriving shortly. Mr. Tom Parker, his equally enthusiastic sister Diana, their quirky brother Arthur, and sickly sister Susan take up the story we do have. But often in Austen novels, the characters who dominate the early chapters with silliness or charismatic charm do not reveal themselves to be the true heroes and heroines of the novel. Austen’s heroes have a habit of revealing themselves late – when readers have had time to read them – to read and understand the integrity of their character. Which is why, in the manuscript, I feel Sidney Parker is the intended hero for Charlotte Heywood. References to his wealth and intelligence add to the promise of his late arrival.

In Davies’ adaptation, I feel differently; on screen, his behaviour excludes him from my forgiveness by misunderstanding. He is not a Colin Firth, a generous gentleman hiding behind a cold exterior. Andrew Davis has his Sidney Parker behave like a Willoughby. In Sense & Sensibility, when Willoughby returns after his marriage to profess that he always loved Marianne, Eleanor beats him out of the house. When Sidney stops Charlotte in her carriage, he deserves a similar beating. Sidney promised Charlotte twice and unlike Edward Ferris, who honours his commitment to Lucy Steele (and Eleanor loves him for it!), Sidney does not have the courage to keep his promises. He is inconsistent again, by being attracted to Charlotte’s independent spirit (which stretches outside the bounds of nineteenth-century realism when she travels to London alone and takes up the bat in a public cricket match, which is another point of criticism), but cannot sympathize with Miss Lambe, who shows equal independence and desire to control her own life. Why can’t he see the strength and spirit in Miss Lambe, his ward? Sanditon therefore ends without a hero, and I agree that it could not have been Andrew Davies’ Mr. Sidney Parker.

Lady Susan:
Lady Susan does not exist in the manuscript, as she makes her appearance late in Andrew Davies’ adaptation as a wealthy aristocrat who takes an interest in Charlotte with a follow up visit to Sanditon. When Charlotte blabs all her troubles to Lady Susan at the ball in London, it felt like a sacrilege to etiquette. In Pride & Predjudice, Elizabeth and Darcy take care to keep their Wickham troubles out of the ears of gossipers, as they respect the damage it would cause Georgiana and Lydia and shows their integrity not to air someone else’s personal matters. When Charlotte spills the Parkers' troubles onto Lady Susan, I could not respect her for it. But then, maybe this moment in the screen series can be read as a modern moment of meta – when the art points to itself as a constructed piece of art. Her conversation with Lady Susan breaks the reality of nineteenth-century etiquette to announce the ridicules of the drama the Sanditon characters find themselves in.

A Masterpiece series that leaves a lot to talk about and an unfinished manuscript that is enjoyable and skillfully written - I recommend that you check them both out!

[Rose A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful edition which made re-reading the fragment before watching the new series a particular pleasure. Janet Todd’s essay was also excellent, giving helpful background information on the historical context and Austen’s life as is relevant along with some interpretation of the text, allowing for the fact that so much is speculation. Sanction is tantalising for its newness and difference to Austen’s other late work and it is hard to truly get a grip on it, which only makes it more fascinating. An easy read and introduction to serious scholarship packaged in an attractive, easy to carry volume. Much recommended for Sanditon fans or those new to the work.

[Corinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanditon is an early draft that consists of only 12 chapters. It was good, but obviously isn’t going to stand out or be Austen’s best work. I appreciated Todd’s introductory essay that helped me understand the context.

Oh and btw for the peeps who watched the TV show. No there is no incest and also Sidney is not horrible and mean in Austen’s actual writing. Lol. Don’t know why Andrew Davies chose to do that. Austen seems more interested in a commentary about sickness and pretend invalidism than romance or pretty much anything else. Also I’m SO CURIOUS about what she was going to do with Miss Lambe’s character.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this had been finished!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a Bad Janeite. I had never read Sanditon the last unfinished novel of Jane Austen. In just a few Chapters you can see the Brilliance of what could have been.

This Book contains not only the 12 Chapters of Sanditon but also  fascinating essay about Jane and life in Regency period. Sea bathing isn't what you think it is.

I always find it hilarious when reading Biographies of Jane Austen that her stuffy Victorian nieces and nephews tried very hard to make her the Prim and Proper Auntie. She was far from it. Thus Sanditon wasn't actually published till 1925. It inspires me as an  Auntie.

[Katherine Cowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had already watched the new Sanditon season (which really needs a followup season which we may or may not get) before reading this. It was fascinating to read a partial draft by Jane Austen. It is a more directly satirical novel, and the main character does not reveal, even to the reader, manner inner thoughts and motivations--it's hard to tell, just from what we have of the manuscript, where Jane Austen intended to take it.

This was an excellent edition--the introductory essay was great, and I also liked the appendix that included descriptions of many of the attempts to finish and adapt Sanditon in various ways.

[E.M. Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sandition is the last of Austen's novels and partial novels that I've read, and it is as much a departure from her earlier work as I'd heard.

Perhaps because of my recent TV viewing habits, I kept thinking of The White Lotus, which shares Sandition's preoccupation with coastal resorts and the comforts (and fleecing) of the wealthy. It also anticipates the modern wellness industry and affliction of acute anxiety in ways I didn't expect. Both have been a preoccupation in other Austen novels, but not to this degree.

It's a more entrepreneurial book than any of Austen's previous work and refreshingly modern in its perspective. Like thousands of others, I wondered what this fragment would have evolved into had her illness not curtailed her ability to finish the draft. Unlike her earlier novels, no primary plot declares itself within Sandition's pages, but there are several enticing directions it could have gone.

I'm grateful for Janet Todd's opening essay, which I read after finishing the fragment. It helped to put the novel in context and illuminated some of the new trends it contains.

I'm curious to watch the 2019 TV show adaptation, for which occasion this edition of Austen's work was published.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

J' ai vraiment une tendresse particulière pour Sanditon. J'adore ce petit fragment de roman, tout ce qu'il contient de promesses non réalisées, toute la place qu'il laisse à l'imagination aussi. Et de façon assez étonnante je trouve, il n'existe pas tant d'ouvrages que ça sur le sujet alors j'ai du mal à résister quand j'en croise un.

Ici, Janet Todd, qui a déjà écrit à plusieurs reprises sur Jane Austen, se propose d'analyser ces quelques chapitres. Ce n'est pas très développé, ce n'est pas non plus révolutionnaire mais c'est extrêmement interessant, avec quelques pistes de réflexion auxquelles je n'avais pas pensé, quelques faits que je ne connaissais pas, et ça, c'est toujours un régal pour moi.

Le court essai est suivi du fragment du roman, ponctué de quelques commentaires, ce qui nous permet de le redécouvrir à la lumière de ce que l'on vient de lire et que je trouve intelligent. Puis l'ouvrage se termine en revenant sur les différentes suites et adaptations du roman, ce qui ne peut que me ravir, une nouvelle fois (bien que la liste ne soit pas tout à fait complète). Mon seul regret est de ne pas avoir l'avis de Janet Todd sur l'adaptation récente d'Andrew Davis, le livre étant sorti avant sa diffusion.

Bonus non négligeable, la partie écrite par Janet Todd est agrémentée d'illustrations, de gravures et de tableaux humoristiques comme celui de la couverture, datant de l'époque de Jane Austen. Le résultat est très agréable et ajoute au plaisir de lecture. D'ailleurs, j'ai reçu le livre en version numérique de la part de l'éditeur, Fentum Press, que je remercie bien sûr, mais ayant apprécié autant le contenu écrit que visuel, j'ai fini par commander la version papier afin de l'ajouter à ma collection.

http://janeausten.hautetfort.com/arch...

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent context from the introductory essay made me re-read Sanditon with a very different focus. Highly enjoyed this re-read especially while watching the new mini-series for the fragment. We'll never know just where Jane was going with this story but the many possibilities are endlessly entertaining (if not exactly Jane-like).

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost wish I'd never read this, because it was shaping up to be one of my favourite of Jane Austen's novels. Obviously, I knew from the start that it was unfinished, and I chose not to read a 'completed' version by another author, but even so, it still felt like a shock when it came to an abrupt end.

The set up for what was surely going to be an excellent novel feels different to Jane Austen's other works. Perhaps it is its seaside setting, but it feels somehow fresh and fun, perhaps a little more lighthearted than any of the others, even P&P. It starts with a carriage accident, progresses just long enough to introduce all of the principle characters and setting, and ends tantalisingly with enough suggestion of what might happen to allow for a few educated guesses as to the plot, but beyond that, nothing more.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I love Jane Austen. So wish she could have finished this as it would have been a bit different than her other novels. She was so excellent at creating characters! The essay before the novel was well written and informative.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the introduction by Janet Todd very helpful to the context of the time & culture. The first half of the book is the introduction essay followed by the actual fragment of Sanditon written by Jane Austen. There is little to no romance in Sanditon. It mainly focuses on illnesses and health and the changing roles of capitalism. It does have some humorous moments. Austen's, Sanditon comes in at only 24,000 words and really is only an introduction to the story, the plot has not been introduced yet.
Sidney Parker is all of 2 paragraphs and Ms. Lambe is barely a footnote at this point so much could still have happened, had Jane Austen had the chance to finish Sanditon.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of this book is the part by Janet Todd which is some historical bits about the era and Jane's life. It was interesting and added to how she was when writing Sanditon. I enjoyed what Jane Austen wrote of Sanditon and would have loved to have had a full book, but while she new she was dying she didn't have it in her to finish the book. Sickness took her too soon and we will always wonder how the book was supposed to end.

[S.C. Skillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jane Austen, and believe 'Pride and Prejudice' is close to being the perfect novel, for many reasons. I know people exist who don't agree with me, but for the sake of argument let us say here, that for me Jane Austen the novelist is a rarefied being. So recently I feel as if I have seen her in a new light, in a light I might even identify with; I have had an insight into her first draft.

The first draft I'm talking about is, of course, Chapters 1-12 of her last, unfinished, novel, 'Sanditon', which the screenwriter Andrew Davies has recently adapted and completed for ITV as a very successful and enjoyable drama series.

Now I've read Jane's 12 chapters which she sadly had to finish on 18th March 1817, suffering from the illness of which she would die four months later. It is said the disease that killed her was Addison's Disease, and among other symptoms, this would have made her feel very tired and lethargic. But these chapters are energetic, lively and exuberant. Her characters are caricatures; their dialogue is a bit 'in your face' and she makes statements which would have been far better conveyed through the lips of a character. Yet all this she would have transformed in her subsequent drafts, weaving in the subtlety and complexity and irony for which she is so celebrated.

Here in this volume, the essay by Janet Todd sets the context for Jane's last unfinished novel, and greatly contributes to our understanding and appreciation of the work. A highly recommended book.

[Taylor Manookian · Rating 2 out of 5]

thank god this was an unfinished book. what a snoozefest. considerably better than the nightmare that was Emma, but also I think i just hate Jane Austen's style of writing. she just writes RIDICULOUSLY long run on sentences that take up the ENTIRE page and it drives me insane. like would it kill you to use some punctuation every now and then??? jesus christ. also this premise was SUPER boring and im so happy its not a finished novel. rip jane austen but also im glad you died at the perfect moment to not make this book very long because i would be miserably bored. also who tf was the main character?? And why did all the parkers pretend to be sickly all the time? like grow up.

[Michelle (Bamamele.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s so hard to review an essentially unedited fragment of a novel, but I can tell this could have been a magnificent satirical examination of society in only the way Austen could do.