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

Reading anything by Jane Austen is a pleasure. is an uncompleted manuscript from Austen’s later life. At forty-two years old, Austen died in pain. This is reflected in her writing, which is more sarcastic and biting then her better-known works. That being said, it is still a pleasure to read the undisputed queen of British literature. She wrote this fragment in two months before she was unable to write any more.

The village of Sanditon is an up-and-coming place with an active chamber of commerce. The town’s boosters hope to fill the empty inns and boarding houses with tourists with disposable income. They claim that no one could possibly enjoy vibrant health without the benefits of a seaside resort. And gardens never seem to decay at Sanditon; after all, “who can endure a cabbage bed in October?” The story begins when the town’s promoter has a carriage accident and meets a family with a young girl. The girl is invited to Sanditon and becomes a keen observer of village life. This fragment reminds us that it was a terrible loss for Jane Austen to die so young. All readers are blessed by her finished stories. Because of the shortness of this novel, the book includes forewords and endnotes about the manuscript.