Saving Sanditon *Paused*

Introduction

On March 18, 1817, Jane Austen wrote these words:

"Poor Mr. Hollis!—It was impossible not to feel him hardly used; to be obliged to stand back in his own house and see the best place by the fire constantly occupied by Sir H. D."

They sadly turned out to be her last as four months later, she passed away. Leaving her final novel - Sanditon - unfinished, part-way through the twelfth chapter.

The plot centres around Miss Heywood, the daughter of a gentleman farmer from Sussex, and her adventures within the upcoming, fashionable and entertaining seaside town of Sanditon. There she becomes entangled with the lives of the Parker family and it's other 'modern,' as Austen called them, residents. These include the wealthy Lady Denham and the quite unique Miss Lambe - A 17-year-old heiress and daughter of a slave owner from the West Indies, who Lady Denham desperately wants to marry off to her nephew Sir Edward.

In 1925, when Sanditon was published, it was received with mixed emotions. Since then, many writers have sought to give Sanditon an ending, including Anne Austen Lefroy - Austen's niece. Lefroy attempted to add to the story by leaning towards a new connection between two of the main characters - Miss Charlotte Heywood and the intriguing Mr Sidney Parker. Unfortunately, she too left the novel unfinished.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019 and Sanditon was brought to life in a gloriously atmospheric and luxurious TV adaptation. In keeping with the original book, this too received mixed reviews.

Shock and heartbreak rocked its fans throughout Britain - and then the world - when later that year, once again Sanditon was left unfinished.

This is the story of how, in the midst of unprecedented times, that one book, one idea, one hope, brought together people from across the globe and developed into so much more.
A Sister (and Brother) hood, united by one goal: Save Sanditon.