Sandition - an eleven-chapter fragment left at Jane Austen's death completed with seamless artistry by an Austen aficionado and novelist - is a delightful addition to Austen's beloved books about England's uppercrust world and the deception, snobbery, and unexpected romances that animate it. When Charlotte Heywood accepts an invitation to visit the newly fashionable seaside resort of Sanditon, she is introduced to a full range of polite society, from the reigning local dowager, Lady Denham to her impoverished ward, Clara, and from the handsome, feckless Sidney Parker to his amusing, if hypochondriacal sisters. A heroine whose clear-sighted common sense is often at war with romance, Charlottle cannot help observing around her both folly and passion in many guises. But can the levelheaded Charlottle herself resist the attractions of the heart?