'Sanditon': Jane Austen's last novel, now a TV series, contrasts 'old' England society with new-age entrepreneurs
Jane Austen's unfinished novel 'Sanditon' – set in a fictional seaside resort of the same name – is now a TV series. The series that debuted in the UK in 2019, can now be watched by the American audience on PBS from January 12.
The television series is adapted by Andrew Davies, known for his work in 'House of Cards' and his adaptations of period pieces like 'Vanity Fair', 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Middlemarch', and 'War & Peace'.
Writing 'Sanditon' was therapeutic for Austen who needed a distraction from her illness, which is believed to have been either Addison's Disease, a disorder of the adrenal system, or some kind of lymphoma. Austen told her niece, Anna Lefroy, that she still found "pleasure in composition".
The last portion of the manuscript was written in pencil because Austen became too weak to hold a pen, and she was forced to abandon the novel altogether four months before her death in 1817.
She had completed eleven chapters and nine pages of an unfinished twelfth. Davies' adaptation envisions what the completed Austen novel would have explored about England of that era.
'Sanditon', like Austen's other novels, has a main female protagonist, Charlotte Heywood, the daughter of a country gentleman from the fictional Willingden in Sussex.
She is played by Rose Williams in the TV series. Speaking about the character, Williams said: "She's headstrong. She speaks before she thinks. Having grown up on a farm, she is also quite practical."
"She's very modern, too. She is focused on the new. She is interested in architecture and loves meeting new people. She has a lot of ideas, but not much experience to back them up," she shared.
"She has never been out of Willingden before, and so her ideas of everywhere else come from books. She has fantasies of a life she has not lived yet. Like Catherine in Northanger Abbey, it's just in her imagination," Williams added.
While she is at Sanditon, a beachside town, she stays with Tom Parker (Kris Marshall) and his wife.
Mr. Parker, having discovered the commercial possibilities of Sanditon as a "young bathing place", has let out his home and built a house overlooking the beach, going into partnership with the wealthy widow Lady Denham (Anne Reid), who is as unpleasant as she is rich.
In the late 18th Century, seaside holidays became very popular due to the prevailing belief in the healing properties of sea air and seawater.
Jane Austen was being alarmed at the impact of tourism (an issue that still haunts us in the 21st century) on the beautiful coastline of England — an issue she brought to life in the pages she wrote.
'Sanditon' in some ways contrasts the "old" England of the landed gentry (represented by the Heywood family) with the entrepreneurial "new" England represented by Tom Parker. It is about England's rapidly changing landscape, lifestyles, and ambitions during this time period.
Played by star Theo James ('Downton Abbey', 'Divergent'), the hero of the novel and TV series is Sidney Parker. With a tough exterior and a mysterious past, he only shows his gentler side to his big brother Tom, his ward Miss Georgiana Lambe, and, eventually, Charlotte Heywood.
The youngest of the Parker clan, Sidney, has spent years abroad in the West Indies, and during his time there, he (somewhat begrudgingly) became the guardian of heiress Georgiana Lambe, who is the first (and last) black character to appear in Austen's novels.
"He left home to find and make a man of himself," James explained. "He went to Antigua, where he became quite wealthy on the back of the sugar trade. But he abhors the slave trade and, as a result, feels dirty and guilty."
Miss Georgiana Lambe (played by Crystal Clarke) is a wealthy heiress from the West Indies who is determined to live her life the way she wants to and by her own rules.
She finds a kindred outspoken spirit in Charlotte, and the two become fast, best friends. "Her father owned a sugar plantation in Antigua, and her mother was a slave," Clarke said of her character.
"Her father asked Sidney to take care of her. So, she is transported to a new place. She goes from sunny Antigua to not so sunny England and now she feels trapped. But she also has a secret which involves a relationship," she shared.
"She’s the richest person in every room, which is great. In period dramas, people of color are often very tragic, but Miss Lambe is not tragic. Although tragedy surrounds her, she has pulled herself out of it," she added.
Lady Denham's nephew and niece, Sir Edward Denham (Jack Fox) and his sister, Esther (Charlotte Spencer), who have an eye on their aunt's fortune, are the scheming brother and sister duo in the story.
Rounding off the cast of characters is Clara Brereton (Lily Sacofsky), another one of Lady Denham's nieces, who is dependent on her aunt. Her life in Sanditon involves competing with Esther and Edward Denham for Lady Denham’s favor, and ultimately, a place in her will. To win, Clara does what she must.
"As soon as Clara comes into this world, she starts to perform. She creates a persona for herself that fits in with her new environment of courtship and manners. She quietly observes what people expect of women and comes up with this 'butter wouldn't melt', marry-able persona. She makes herself soft and helpful."
The series premieres on PBS on January 12.
