Sanditon

by Jane Austen

English · 1817Fiction
29,126 words12 chapters~117 min read
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Jane Austen's final, unfinished novel follows Charlotte Heywood as she visits the ambitious seaside resort town of Sanditon, where scheming developers and eccentric hypochondriacs create a world of social comedy and romantic possibility. Written in 1817 during Austen's final illness, this English fiction fragment offers a fascinating glimpse into new directions the author might have explored.

Opening lines

A Gentleman & Lady travelling from Tunbridge towards that part of the Sussex Coast which lies between Hastings & E. Bourne, being induced by Business to quit the high road, & attempt a very rough Lane, were overturned in toiling up it’s long ascent half rock, half sand.--The accident happened just beyond the only Gentleman’s House near the Lane--a House, which their Driver on being first required to take that direction, had conceived to be necessarily their object, & had with most unwilling Looks been constrained to pass by--. He had grumbled & shaken his shoulders so much indeed, and pitied & cut his Horses so sharply, that he might have been open to the suspicion of overturning them on purpose (especially as the Carriage was not his Masters own) if the road had not indisputably become considerably worse than before, as soon as the premises of the said House were left behind--expressing
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About Jane Austen

A brilliant English novelist of the early 19th century, she crafted witty social comedies that exposed the constraints facing women in Regency England. Her six novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Emma, revolutionized literature with their sharp psychological insight and sparkling dialogue, establishing her as one of history's most beloved storytellers. All works by Jane Austen

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