Jane Austen's Charlotte: Her Fragment of a Last Novel, Completed by Julia Barrett [Paperback]

Julia Barrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2002

Shortly before she died, Jane Austen started working on a new novel, but did not live to finish it. There have been a few attempts to complete this work, but none have captured the true magic of an Austen novel until now. Julia Barrett has emerged with this literary treasure, holding true to the characters and theme designed by Ms. Austen.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of two sequels to Jane Austen novels (The Third Sister and Presumption), Barrett now sets out to complete Austen's last book. When she died in 1817, Austen left behind 11 chapters of a novel chronicling the growth and demise of Sanditon, a town on the southern coast of Sussex. Thomas Parker and his wife have partnered with Sanditon's grande dame, Lady Denham, in an effort to establish the town as a center of tourism competitive with Brighton. A guest of the Parkers, fresh, sharp and level-headed 22-year-old Charlotte Heywood, is the novel's heroine. Charlotte's impressions of the people who populate Sanditon--haughty Lady Denham; her supercilious nephew, Sir Edward; her kind-hearted companion, Clara Brereton; and Thomas Parker's dashing younger brother, Sidney--set the scene. In brilliant Austen style, the first chapters prepare the reader for Edward's unrequited love for Clara, the possibility of a match between Charlotte and Sidney and grand social commentary. But where Austen leaves off, Barrett picks up with circumlocutory language, unclear and contradictory character descriptions and a general heedlessness for plot, cramming the story with minor characters, coincidences, scenes of smuggling and gambling. Clara and Sir Edward indulge in a melodramatic affair, and Barrett's positive presentation of a new protagonist, poet and intellectual Emmeline Turner, is at odds with Austen's mocking attitude toward similar characters in other works. Barrett also risks much in coupling her own prose with Austen's. Still, determined Austen fans may find the novel an intriguing if less than satisfying footnote to the Austen canon. (Apr.) FYI: Barrett is a pseudonym of Julia Braun Kessler.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Austen left behind a fragment of a novel, which she entitled The Brothers but which was later known as Sanditon, after the story's setting. Under that title, it was completed by "Another Lady" (i.e., Anne Telscombe) and published by Houghton Mifflin (LJ 1/75). Now, the pseudonymous Barrett, the author of The Third Sister and Presumption (her sequels to Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, respectively), has based a new novel on Austen's fragment. Barrett knows the style and themes of her predecessor thoroughly, and it is difficult to know when Austen leaves off and Barrett begins. The plot concerns the involvement of numerous characters in the rise and fall of a seaside spa in Sussex. Charlotte temporarily leaves her family to stay with the Parkers at the resort. There she becomes embroiled in Mr. Parker's enthusiastic but ill-fated attempt to lure more people to take the waters at Sanditon. She falls in love with Parker's cynical brother Sidney, who becomes more human and caring under her benign influence. The situations are amusingly satirical, and the characters are diverse and entertaining, although the title character lacks the forcefulness and charm of Austen's best female characters. Although not a great novel, this pastiche is essential reading for Austen devotees. Recommended for larger public and college libraries.AMorris Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., Brooklyn
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: M.Evans & Company (March 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871319713
• ISBN-13: 978-0871319715
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,042,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible and off-base, October 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Austen's Charlotte: Her Fragment of a Last Novel, Completed by Julia Barrett (Hardcover)

This novel is a travesty. That Ms. Barrett would even presume to complete the work of one of the greatest English authors is audacity personified. This book is extremely boring and seemingly plotless. If you're looking for a satisfying completion to this novel choose "Sandition" by Jane Austen and "Another Lady" instead. Ms. Barrett not only fails to deliver the wittiness and sharp insight of a Jane Austen novel, she also fails miserably at attempting Austen's style of writing. Truly a disappointment, to put it mildly.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Barrett destroyed Austen's story, June 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Austen's Charlotte: Her Fragment of a Last Novel, Completed by Julia Barrett (Hardcover)

Jane Austen's fragment is a delightful story which is ruined with the first sentence Julia Barrett writes. In it she has Charlotte repeat the joke the narrator has just told. The language becomes convoluted and flowery. All the characters sound like Sir Edward Denham but without the poetry quotations. There is very little action of any kind in the book. Jane Austen's characters fade into the background and the new ones introduced by Barrett take over the story. Charlotte, Lady Denham and Sidney Parker seem to change character completely as soon as Barrett takes over the writing. She takes six or more pages to say what Austen would have put in a couple of sentences. What plot there is bears little resemblence to anything Jane Austen seems to have had in mind.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a purist, but disappointed all the same..., August 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane Austen's Charlotte: Her Fragment of a Last Novel, Completed by Julia Barrett (Hardcover)

I am always eager to read completions of Jane Austen's work, unlike those who find it unthinkable that anyone should touch the gems she left behind. I find Ms. Barrett's work disappointing, however, because it appears to me that it lacks the subtlety and charm so characteristic of Jane Austen's: the minimal changes of place and scene, the delicate development of character through conversation and observation, the wry humor she employs and the focus of thought and action through the eyes of her primary characters. This Charlotte is too full of inconsistencies of characterization and plot (Lady Denham throwing lavish entertainments? Lurid tales of piracy and gambling?) for me, and I didn't enjoy reading it. I liked Sanditon by Another Lady much better - I think she did a lovely job of capturing JA's essence and finishing the novel in a manner more consistent with it's original author's style and pattern.