Jane Austen's Sanditon: From Unfinished Swan Song to British Costume Drama
One of England's greatest authors, Jane Austen, was born 250 years ago on Dec. 16, 1775. Join author, former UK resident, and Anglophile Claire Evans for a look at Austen’s final, unfinished manuscript and its path from family heirloom to a fully imagined costume drama, airing on American PBS. Learn about the real-life people and locations that informed Austen’s last work before her untimely death at age 41 in 1817.
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This joint program is co-organized by the Hamden Public Library, Cheshire Public Library, and Stratford Public Library. Funding is provided by the Friends of the Hamden Library.
About the Presenter
Claire Evans is an author, former journalist, attorney, and college lecturer who started her love of most things British as she and her mother watched countless Britcoms on PBS. She studied abroad in London and, against the odds, she married a Brit she met in Peoria, Illinois. They lived in England for a number of years. Her business, Tea with Claire, grew from friends asking for travel advice. Her memoir, High Tea and the Low Down, is the true story of what it's really like to marry a witty Englishman, move to Britain, and make every cultural faux pas imaginable.
About Jane Austen (Dec. 16, 1775-July 18, 1817) and her novel Sanditon
Jane Austen's novels endure because of their popularity with readers for their witty and astute observations, captivating drama and evocative portrait of everyday life in the towns and countryside of Regency England. Jane Austen completed only six official works during her short lifetime. In January 1817 Jane Austen commenced work on a new novel, to which she never assigned a name. By mid-March, she had completed twelve chapters, at which time she ceased working due to illness. The unfinished work was eventually published in 1925. It has since become known simply as Sanditon. The central character, Charlotte Heywood, finds herself caught up in the comings and goings of the lively seaside resort "Sanditon".