Helen Baker

The Book of Esther Helen Baker

Miss Austen's ten chapters about Sanditon were completed, under her draft title The Brothers, by another English lady in 2014. Despite general acclaim, it still left undecided the fate of such interesting characters as Lady Denham, Sir Edward Denham and, above all, his long-suffering and much maligned sister Esther. The English lady responsible for the original completion now hopes that this offering satisfies Miss Austen's myriad admirers while acknowledging her own, very inferior, powers of narration.