Sanditon Character Review: Alison Heywood

The schedule for the Character Review posts will be changing to Friday (or Saturday at the latest from now on).

I apologize for not posting last week. There is only so much writing that can be done in a day.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the book and the television show Sanditon. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show. There is something to be said about a well-written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

Life is an adventure. So is being young. In Sanditon, Alison Heywood (Rosie Graham) is the younger sister of Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams). Compared to her older sister, Alison is young, slightly naive, and excited about the unknown. Upon arriving in Sanditon, there are nothing but possibilities, especially in the area of romance.

It is love at first sight with Captain William Carter (Maxim Ays). He is charming, handsome, romantic, and looks good in uniform. She expects to walk into the sunset with him. While she is head over heels for Captain Carter, Alison strikes up an immediate dislike for Captain Declan Frasier (Frank Blake). He seems to disapprove of everything she says and does. He also turns up when she least wants him to.

When it appears that everything is going right, it all goes wrong. Alison nearly drowns when the boat she is in with Captain Carter turns over. Unable to swim, she is brought to safety by Captain Frasier. With her eyes open, she pushes Captain Carter away. It is only then (like Marianne Dashwood), that she realizes that the man she has been looking for has been there along: Captain Frasier.

When we last them, they are newly married and looking forward to a bright future.

To sum it up: You never know where life will take you. Sometimes all you need is an open heart and the willingness to learn from your mistakes. Though she is young and starry-eyed, she is smart enough to know when to change course.

Which is why she is a memorable character.

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It’s Been Three Years Since Covid Entered Our Lives

There are some events in our larger cultural world that will forever define that era.

Three years ago, Covid 19 entered our lives. Up until then, it was far away, impacting other people. Then it hit home.

I was scheduled to go away that weekend. I took my work laptop home, not knowing what was coming. To say that the weekend was odd was an understatement. The plans that we had fell into pieces. The town in which we were staying was oddly quiet. Many of the stores, which under different circumstances would have been open, were closed. The hotel was barely occupied.

When I got home, I turned on the computer to see an email from my company’s CEO. We had the option of going to the office or working from home. I texted my boss to say that I would not be seeing her in person.

Like many of us, I expected to stay home for a couple of weeks, maybe a month at most. Little did we know that everything knew would change.