JANE AUSTEN'S CHARLOTTE

The pseudonymous author of two Jane Austen sequels (The Third Sister, 1996, etc.) here takes up Austen’s unfinished

manuscript satirizing land speculators and fashionable seaside towns, completing it with period style and dash, though plot developments are less satisfying Austen began The Brothers (better known as Sanditon, the name her survivors gave it) shortly before she died in 1817. The 12 chapters she wrote promise a spirited satire of the burgeoning popularity of seaside resorts, whose air and water were thought to have healing powers, and Barrett picks up where Austen left off. Several themes have contemporary resonance, particularly the characters” preoccupation with alternative medicine and the desire of property developers Mr. Parker and Lady Debenham to profit from this fashion. These two, who have invested money in building houses to rent, hope that Sanditon will be the next Brighton. The folly of their enterprise is seen mostly through the eyes of Charlotte Heywood, a young woman staying with the Parkers in their new seaside villa, Trafalgar House. Charlotte is amused by romantic, verse-quoting Sir Edward, Lady Debenham’s nephew and heir, but Edward himself is more taken with Clara, the Lady’s penniless prot‚g‚e. As the season opens, a gratifying number of wealthy visitors arrive, as do Mr. Parker’s hypochondriacal sisters and youngest brother, who soon find their health, happiness, and vocation in Sanditon. Also in attendance is Sidney, another Parker brother, who shares Charlotte’s sardonic understanding of others” follies. Mutual attraction ensues as the plot labors to thicken. The resort still has too many vacant accommodations, so Sir Edward goes to London, hoping to make money by persuading a horse-racing and gambling establishment to move to Sanditon. It does, but the ensuing scandal soon empties the town. Only love triumphs. All those nice Regency details are here, but the people are sketchy creatures compelled to rush through a creaky plot. Even

Austen’s wit seems less sparkling and more forced in so trite a setting.