Welcome to Litsy!

So I was not into Sanditon at first although I read the unfinished chapters many moons ago & have had the PBS series DVR‘d to watch. I believe it was trying to read it, The Other Bennet Sister & North and South at the same time for #Pemberlittens Well, I sped through TOBS & set aside N&S (I‘m going to jump back in) & then found it quite delightful. Witty & fun & a WHOLE LOT of seaweed, the author did Jane Austen a solid in finishing her book ⬇️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I wish Jane Austen was able to finish this story! She set up such interesting characters and a very different setting compared to her other novels. I wish we knew what she intended for Charlotte and Sidney and Edward and Clara. But the “another lady”, Dobbs, told a very Austenesque story and I very much enjoyed it! I started the show on PBS Masterpiece and I really liked the first episode! #pemberlittens

#Pemberlittens

Caught up through Chapter 21 (I had to read Monday‘s chapter today because it certainly won‘t happen tomorrow.)

Chapter 20 was my favorite as there are lots of exclamations over seaweed, seaweed art & shells & shell art & bee stings & home cures on the field trip to Brinshore. Since unlike Charlotte, I find the “charms of seaweed” very moving, this picture made me giggle… 😉😆

Jane Austen set it all up in the first chapters, but didn‘t live to finish Sanditon. I enjoyed the Austen chapters, but I honestly loved the rest of this version, completed by ‘Another Lady‘ (Marie Dobbs) in 1975, so much that it gets to live here on my Jane shelf.❤️

Dobbs made a gallant, fairly successful attempt to emulate Austen‘s writing style, and as she explained in her ‘apology‘ note at the end, she also tried to finish the story in a ⬇️⬇️

#PemberLittens

Ch 16: Charlotte successfully manages to merge her group with Sidney and his friend (turns out jilted Henry is also a brooding romantic dish). Much to Edward‘s chagrin, the expanded party walks to see his cottage together, with Henry monopolizing Clara the whole time. Sidney out-literary references Edward, then perfectly dissects his character to an astonished Charlotte while Edward isn‘t looking, then steals both ladies away home.

#PemberLittens

Ch 15: On the way to sea bathe, Charlotte & Clara see a coach arriving; Charlotte is sure it‘s Sidney‘s friends. Clara continues to be a mystery, but Charlotte wants to be friends. The ladies enjoy their supervised wading (only 15 minutes, no splashing/jumping!), but then Sir E shows up insisting they walk with him. Charlotte refuses, until she spots Sidney & friend coming, then suddenly agrees, develops an imaginary shoe pebble.😂

#PemberLittens

Ch 14: after dinner, Sidney parks himself next to Charlotte, apparently thrilled to be able to talk about something besides digestion with his family. He‘s very engaging, knowledgeable, and opinionated, even if Charlotte can‘t quite figure him out. He talks all kinds of smack (in fun) about his siblings and is amused that Charlotte the houseguest doesn‘t join in. He wants lots of entertainment when Henry arrives, including balls!

#PemberLittens

Ch 13 (still written by Not Jane): Sidney has promised Mr. P that he will round up the sickly siblings and bring them for family dinner. Mrs. P has her doubts, since Susan has yet to even come up the hill, but sure enough, Sidney gets them all there, and clearly has a positive effect, as they are a lively, happy bunch. Sidney talks about his two friends coming soon, including Poor Henry Brudenall, who has been jilted by his cousin.

#Pemberlittens

Ch 12 (entirely written by ‘another lady‘) picks up with Charlotte in awe of how easily Clara and Sir Edward are lying to Lady D. Clara suggests sea bathing, Lady D has nothing nice to say about bathing machines (seriously, I have to agree) or sea bathing in general, but Charlotte is keen to go until she starts to suspect Clara/Sir Edward are going to use her to be away from Lady D. Mrs. Parker has much to say about awesome Sidney.