Sanditon

Jane Austen began writing Sanditon, originally titled The Brothers, in 1817. Austen completed 11 chapters before stopping in the middle of the 12th chapter, most likely due to the growing illness that resulted in her death later that year. Sanditon was finally published in 1925 under the title Fragments of a Novel.

Since Sanditon is unfinished, the possible ending of the novel is the center of scholarly debate and curiosity. Several writers or, “continuators,” have guessed how Austen would have wanted it finished based on the endings of her other works. Some of these editions with a possible ending include Sanditon: Jane Austen’s Novel Completed by Jane Austen and Another Lady, A Return to Sanditon: A Completion of Jane Austen’s Fragment by Anne Toledo, and Jane Austen’s Sanditon: A Continuation by Anna Austen Lefroy. Since Sanditon does not supply a love interest for Charlotte in the fragment that she wrote, writers struggle to naturally end the novel with a level of plausibility. However, most editions settle on Sidney Parker for Charlotte’s possible love interest. Although Austen introduces Sidney right before the fragment ends, based on other characters’ discussion of him throughout the novel, he seems to be the only person who shares Charlotte’s beliefs about the absurdity of the other Parker siblings, which would make the two characters compatible.