A Successful Novel Must Be in Want of a Sequel ― Second Takes on Classics from the Scarlet Letter to Rebecca

This study examines the sequels to seven literary classics: Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Emma Tennant's Elinor and Marianne; Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and its multiple rewritings; Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, and Emma Tennant's The French Dancer's Bastard; Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Maryse Condé's Windward Heights, and Lin Haire-Sargeant's Heathcliff: The Return to Wuthering Heights; Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and John Updike's "The Scarlet Letter Trilogy"; Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Geraldine Brooks' March; and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Susan Hill's Mrs. de Winter, and Sally Beauman's Rebecca's Tale. It analyzes how the reading of sequels informs understanding of the original novels and whether the sequels can be read apart from the originals, as well as their purpose and what they contribute to the deeper understanding of the original novels. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo’s work has appeared in Ad Americam, Contemporary Legend, Americana, Clepsydra, RAEI, The Grove, and NeoAmericanist, among other publications. She currently teaches at UNED, Universidad Isabel I and Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid, Spain).