Most people think that Jane Austen wrote six novels and then died.  The death part is correct unfortunately but she wrote more than six novels.  People believe this because when a network like PBS broadcasts adaptations in a bundle on Masterpiece Theater, they promote it as “the complete Jane Austen” when in fact six is very incomplete.

I get a Jane Austen catalog for Jane Austen fans and it even offers fan fiction (take offs on Ms. Austen’s  popular works).  All  of these efforts are inspired by the six: Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, And Northanger Abbey.

I know what some of you advanced Austen fans are thinking: Sanditon.  That one was unfinished at the time of Jane Austen’s death — or her sister either did not discover the conclusion of it or burnt the conclusion by mistake when she cleaned house after Jane’s death.   Actually I am talking about complete works that would be great for adaptation into mini-series by A&E, BBC, and/or the Masterpiece Trust.  The best not-yet-adapted works are:

1. Lady Susan (a novella),
2. The Watsons (some editions are labeled as finished by Jane Austen herself while other versions are labeled as unfinished),
3. Sir Charles Grandison (a play),
   
4. Love and Freindship (obviously juvenilia because the spelling is either creative or incorrect)
5. Catharine, or the Bower (although written during Jane’s youth, it shows a maturing of her writing prowess and deserves adult treatment)
6. one could argue that Mansfield Park has never been fully brought to the screen, as her longest work, I have never seen any adaptation that did not leave out entire sections (not just chapters) — while watching I thought WTF?  Where is this and where is that?  Why did they leave it out while putting in stuff Jane never wrote?  I speak of 1999′s : Mansfield Park, film directed by Patricia Rozema which was intelligent in putting in references to slavery but left out quite a bit while injecting Jane Austen as a character in the form of Fanny as a budding writer.  The 2007 Billie Piper version was a train wreck all the more painful because I am a Billie Piper fan from her Doctor Who days.  The longest (and therefore the best) adaptation is 1983′s  Mansfield Park, BBC series directed by David Giles.  I like Rozema’s adaptation while simultaneously shuddering in horror as to what liberties she would have taken with Jane if she had eight hours to work with.
7. the best way to adapt Sanditon on PBS is to stop it where it stops at the end of a first season and then have the conclusion in a second season or next year adapted by Andrew Davies or some screenplay writer who has done a lot of Austen from the best three of attempts to complete the novel.  Using a single attempt to complete Sanditon as source material would be a mistake.   Combining material from three attempts by three different authors would give more to work with (and more un-Austen-like material to leave out).

There you have it.  To those who can’t get enough Jane Austen, I say take a look.  And if you are really a Jane Austen fan, then encourage A&E, BBC and/or PBS to really complete Jane Austen.