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Her Works

Jane Austen is the most popular author of romantic fiction of the early 19th century. She completed 6 novels:

There are two unfinished novels : The Watsons and Sanditon. Many authors have made attempts at finishing these books but were not equally successful. Apart from these novels, there exist a number of minor works (many humourous or ironic). These were intended for the delight of her family but published by relatives after her death.

Sequels and Complementary Work

A great number of sequels and movies that deal with the characters or plot of Jane Austen's stories have been published. The movies Sense and sensibility with Emma Thompson and Clueless with Alicia Silverstone (yes, the blonde from the Aerosmith videos) are among the most recent examples that Jane Austen's legacy is still alive. Clueless transfers Emma Woodhouse's situation to modern life.

Joan Aiken

Of those authors that have tried to complete novels or write sequels, Joan Aiken is perhaps the best-known. She succeeded at making a complement novel to Emma in which she gives a picture of Jane Fairfax. Apart from this she wrote the sequels Mansfield Revisited (about Fanny Price's younger sister Susan at Mansfield Park), Eliza's Daughter (about Colonel Brandon's young protegee who we scarcely know anything about from Sense And Sensibility), and Emma Watson, which is a finished version of The Watson, but Jane Austen's original beginning has been completely rewritten.

Although there are points in her novels where she fails at correct knowledge of the ways of the 19th century some of her books are very delightful. Nevertheless I must say that her Emma Watson -though nice in itself- cannot compete with many other versions of Jane Austen's The Watsons. Also, whoever might have some tender feelings towards the three sisters Elinor, Marianne, and Margret should better not attempt to read Eliza's Daughter as though an adventurous story in itself the novel does not come up with a happy fate for our beloved sisters.

Jane Gillespie

There are five sequels by Jane Gillespie that I own: Deborah, Ladysmead, Aunt Celia, and Teverton Hall. Jane Gillespie's books are typically rather short and borrow the plot of Jane Austen's originals to explore the fates of some of the less-known figures of her books. For example in Deborah we learn about Anne de Bourgh who finally learns to become independent from Lady Catherine. Another book tells us about the Collinses' children.

I cannot say that Jane Gillespie's books offer much depth or any serious attempts at writing in Jane Austen's style. But her novels are quite amusing and Jane Gillespie treats the original characters with far more respect than Joan Aiken thinks necessary.

Others

There are some more sequels that I own. The first ist bye Joan Austen-Leigh , the second is The Third Sister . And finally Darcy's Story, Letters from Pemberley , and Pemberley Shades .

The book Later Days at Highbury by Joan Austen-Leigh (yes, a great-great-...-grandniece or so of Jane Austen) is an eqistolary and fits into the Highbury scenario from Emma. It mainly consists of letters between Mrs. Goddard and her sister Mrs. Pinkney and between Mrs. Elton and her sister. By the way, the Elton have moved into superior circles and live in London now. There they cross the paths of the Pinkneys. In Highbury meanwhile there is a new face at church reading sermons. Also, after the death of the old Mr. Woodhouse, Emma Knightley and her husband have moved to Donwell Abbey and let Hartfield to new tentants. It is very amusing to hear all the gossip that Mrs. Goddard writes about.

The book The Third Sister by Julia Barret is a continuation of Sense and Sensibility. Litte Margret has grown into a fine woman, but after her sisters are both married still remains in the small cottage with her mother. Will she find a husband, too ? This book I did not find too bad. Although the story seems not entirely believable, the feelings of the figures are. The style of writing should be overlooked, and from what I've read on the web, most books by Julia Barrett are generally thought the worst Jane Austen sequels on this planet.

Someone who has watched the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) will find that Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer keeps very close to the dialogs and the pace of the movie. It shows us the story from Darcy's side and therefore is not exactly a sequel. We find out how Darcy had to face his sister's indended elopement and when he first realized he was in love with Elizabeth.

The first year at Pemberley after the marriage of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Dary is depicted in Letters from Pemberley by Jane Dawkins. It is an epistolary novel in which Elizabeth writes to her sister Jane. The book is quite amusing but the frequent use of copied original quotes is rather annoying at times.

One of the rarest out-of-print sequels is Pemberley Shades by D. A. Bonavia Hunt, a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. In my opinion this is one of the best sequels I've read so far. The style is very much what it ought to be (noone can claim to write in Jane Austen's style but one can try to get as close as possible).

Another sequel to Pride and Prejudice is Juliette Shapiro's Excessively Diverted. It is quite delightful and treats the original characters with much respect. Purists however should be warned that the author does not respect her protagonists' private sphere as much as Jane Austen did.

This warning extends to The Darcys - Scenes from Married Life by Phyllis Furley where the author casts a shadow on the young married couple by conjuring up a dark secret from Darcy's past love life. The language of the book is comparably authentic, but this even more alienates the reader because the author touches topics that Jane Austen would never have dared to bring up.

Links

Files

For all who are not familiar with the file extensions used (maybe because they are so unlucky to use Win***s):

You are very welcome to ask me questions or make comments about this page. Especially if you have read one of the above books, you might want to exchange opinions with me. Also, if you know about a sequel not listed above that is still in print, please mail me.