Sanditon, Jane Austen's final and unfinished novel consisting of a mere twelve chapters, cries out for completion. No Austen devotee can help but wonder what happens to Sanditon's witty heroine Charlotte Heywood. In the unfinished work there are hints as to a suitable love match for this bold country lass but such unions in the world Jane Austen wrote about never take place with ease. There are bound to be complications, misunderstandings and a good measure of interference from some of the less well-bred characters. In Juliette Shapiro's continuation of this work the reader will find hypochondriacs for laughs, a plethora of well breeched men and fortune seeking ladies. Where better for romance to blossom than by the sea? There's a substantial sum of money to be bequeathed but who to? Add to all this the small matter of several incidences of mistaken identity, a deception or two and you have as near as damn it just the kind of story Austen might have written.

Sanditon, A Completion by Juliette Shapiro is expected to be released for Christmas 2002.