AUSTEN-L "Pre-FAQ" Comments on Jane Austen Sequels, Continuations, and other Para-literature (Collected by Juliet A. Youngren) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comments on Continuations/Completions on the Austen discussion list (AUSTEN-L) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [See http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austen-l.html http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/austseql.html and http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pre-faq.txt ] Q. What recommendations do you have about continuations of the unfinished SANDITON and THE WATSONS? A. Comments from the list follow. 'See both Marilyn Sachs on "The Sequels to Jane Austen's Novels" and David Hopkinson on "Completions" in "The Jane Austen Companion" (1986).' (Eric Walker, 7 February 1994) SANDITON Completed by "Another Lady" (Anne Telscombe/Marie Dobbs*) ------------------------------------------------------------------ (Houghton Mifflin, 1975) [COMPILER'S NOTE: Anne Telscombe and Marie Dobbs are two pseudonyms used by the same author. It is not clear which, if either, is her real name.] "I think the style of writing is upbeat, well done, deliciously sarcastic in a humorous way, and all in all, thoroughly enjoyable." (Shellie Mueller, 5 December 1994) "I enjoyed it overall, though I'm sure Austen herself would *never* have applauded a heroine for telling a lie, even one of convenience. The failed abduction episode was sheer delight, however!" (Juliet Youngren, 27 July 1995) "I thought it was pretty good. Near the end, I thought it went downhill. I didn't like the last scene between Sidney and Charlotte, and the abduction didn't convince me. The scene just didn't strike me as very Austen-like ... Still, I liked it, and it's (in my opinion) probably how JA would have completed the novel." (Melanie Kraft, 30 July 1995) "I LOVED the completion of Sanditon, even though I have loathed all other completions of Austen books I've tried. I found this one delightful, and I COULD NOT tell where the exact moment of change-of-author occurred (until the book notes revealed it!)." (Shellie Mueller, 3 August 1995) "I too found it seamless. Only problem, which I think was already there in JA's own beginning chapters, was that the heroine didn't seem to need any growth or development to make her worthy of the hero." (Edith Lank, 4 August 1995) "Although the bulk of the book was written 'by another lady' I felt Jane Austen's spirit guided her pen. The characters and their development were delightful ...." (Patricia Hattar, September 1995) "It is better than no Jane Austen novel at all, and the woman who finished it did a very good job, I think, of using Austenesque language in completing the book ... but it is fairly derivative of the other novels--she (the other lady) uses exactly the same phrases from dialogues in other novels ... But it's pleasant to read and much much better than nothing at all left." (Kathy Stansbury, 25 September 1995) "It's much better than some of the execrable JA sequels--it has a light quasi-Austenesque style and a firm grasp on the proprieties of male-female relations ... but I wouldn't say that it's just as good as a real Austen novel." (Henry Churchyard, 25 September 1995) "It is relatively seamless, I thought, though I haven't done an indepth comparison." (Jan Higbee, 30 September 1996) "[It] reminded me of the Stephanie Barron books in tone. I went back and read the few chapters actually written by Jane Austen when I was done, and could see that the person who wrote the continuation had made great use of little hints and suggestions placed in the beginning chapters." (Gina Wallace, 17 January 1997) "Quite good. Develops Charlotte Heywood and the rich cast of eccentrics well. Language satisfactory, and content ... to let the story develop from characters." (Stephen Bishop, 28 January 1997) "Not bad at all." (Edith Lank, 28 January 1997) "SANDITON does have moments of wit and cleverness that come close to Jane Austen. I'm really not sure I could have drawn the line between the fragment written by Austen and that added by Dobbs. More than anything, Dobbs develops Charlotte and Sidney into unique and memorable characters. The others are more clearly drawn by Austen herself and were just continued." (Gina Wallace, 28 January 1997) "Quite enjoyable light reading and quite in the spirit of JA." (Joseph Morales, 6 March 1997) THE WATSONS =========== "In his MEMOIR, nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh says that JA told Cassandra 'something of the intended story'. Mr. Watson was soon to die and Emma to become dependent for a home on brother Robert and his narrow-minded wife. She was to decline an offer of marriage from Lord Osborne 'and much of the interest of the tale was to arise from Lady Osborne's (considered a slip for "Miss Osborne's") love for Mr. Howard and his counter affection for Emma, whom he was finally to marry.'" (Edith Lank, 3 July 1996) EMMA WATSON (THE WATSONS rewritten by Joan Aiken) ------------------------------------------------- (St. Martin's Press, 1996) "This is much less faithful to the traditional [than Coates' completion] view of how the plot would pan out ... in fact it is much less Austen-like than, say, her Mansfield Park sequel, or even 'Jane Fairfax'." (Stephen Bishop, 2 July 1996) "Abandons (I'm not sure why) the fine opening JA wrote and starts again in same situation and mostly same characters. Fairly convincing story and passable language. Story line a bit stretched--speculation and so on, more worthy of George Elliott than JA. Overall--fair." (Stephen Bishop, 28 January 1997) "Just boring." (Leila Dooley, 29 January 1997) Completed by John Coates ------------------------ (Thomas Crowell: 1958, reprinted 1977) "I've always thought it was a pretty fair job ... I haven't re-read the book in some time, but I seem to remember that Mr. Howard, because he was teased about Emma, slipped away (to the stables) when the Watsons came calling--that recalls a passage in the early letters about Tom Lefroy, whose aunt warned him off Jane and teased him so that HE slipped out when the Austens called." (Edith Lank, 3 July 1996) "I didn't see a jarring line where Austen left off and Coates began. I loved the way he handled the oldest sister ... and the suitor he provided for her ... he never really developed the character of Mr. Howard or explained much of what Emily/Emma saw in him ... the plot involving Penelope (the middle sister I think) was very un-Austenish. She was an engaging character in her own right, but I didn't feel she was one that Austen might have drawn, and I thought the resolution to her story was way too melodramatic. Aside from those two points, though, I liked it. It's certainly worth reading." (Juliet Youngren, 12 February 1996) "Very good." (Jan Higbee, 30 September 1996) "I thought [it was] very good. Follows on fairly seamlessly from JA's fragment, and has the patience to build up a story convincingly from the characters rather than inventing spurious events and excitements. The language lacks JA's edge of course but does not jar. The best continuation I have read." (Stephen Bishop, 28 January 1997) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------