I recently read two incomplete novels by Jane Austen, The Watsons and Sanditon, loved both, and was left wanting more. I found the fragment of Sanditon left uncompleted by Jane Austen's death, even more intriguing; it had such possibilities! I really liked our heroine Charlotte Heywood, with her obvious intelligence, lack of pretension and good sense. In the eleven chapters of 26,000 or so words of Austen's text, Lady Denham and the three Parker hypochondriac siblings struck me as brilliant comic creations. Then there's Sir Edward Denham, who models himself after rakes like Richardson's Lovelace and schemes to seduce, and if not, abduct, Clara, his rival for Lady Denham's inheritance. Then there's Miss Lambe, "a young West Indian of large fortune," who is "about seventeen, half mulatto, and chilly and tender." What an interesting character to find in an Austen novel!
However, after my experience with Aiken's Watsons completion, I didn't expect much from the 1975 completion by "Another Lady" For what it's worth, I loved it. No, I'm not saying "Another Lady" (from the copyright apparently Marie Dobbs) is Austen's equal. But she tacked on her story seamlessly from where Austen ended, developed the characters very nicely and seemed to get the period details right. On its own terms, this is a winning historical romance, and I loved in particularly how she developed the hero, Sidney Parker, from the bare hints in what was left to us. I agree with the review below that he rivals Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey in wit and charm. I've been unimpressed by most of the Jane Austen pastiches I've tried, this one left me with a smile. One point off to indicate no, this doesn't rank with those of Austen's novels completed by her, but the story is very enjoyable and earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
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