Northanger Abbey: Janeites rejoice in this light and lively tour de force

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	• Northanger Abbey (Modern Library Classics) Jane Austen Modern Library, 2002 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 89 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Northanger Abbey (Penguin Classics)

I watched the recent BBC version of the Northanger Abbey story first and loved it. I'm a Jane Austen fan who hasn't read all the novels but I'm working on it. So I got the novel to see how it compared. It was great! I love her humor - tongue in cheek and so witty. But the thing I really want to comment favorably about is the Penguin Classics edition. I get so much background and insight and explanatory information from these editions. I've read 3 of them now and they are marvelous. I've read quite a few novels from this era and it is really helpful to have notes to refer to in the back that explain things.

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A Little Gothic Romance....

Jane Austen wrote "Northanger Abbey" in the late 1790's, but it was not finally published until 1818, after her death. It is a broad satire of the Gothic Romance novels popular in her day. Its lead character, the innocent young Catherine Morland, is moderately attractive, good-hearted, and highly imaginative, but perhaps the least compelling of Austen's heroines. Nevertheless, Jane Austen's excellent writing gifts are on display in this short novel, which offers some superbly funny dialogue, witty commentary on social manners, and a sympathetic heroine.

Catherine is offered the opportunity to vacation in the resort town of Bath by family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen. In Bath, she falls in with two people her own age, Isabella and John Thorpe. Isabella is to be engaged to Catherine's brother James, while John, a college friend of James, takes an interest in Catherine. The Thorpes involve the inexperienced Catherine in the social whirl of Bath. They will also provide her with some hard lessons in manners.

Catherine also meets Henry and Elinor Tilney, a brother and sister who introduce her to walks and intellectual discussion. Their father, the imposing General Tilney, invites Catherine to visit the family estate of Northanger Abbey. Catherine eagerly accepts the invitation, in part to stay close to Henry, on whom she has a crush, and in part to see the ancient abbey, sure to be the embodiment of her cherished Gothic Romances.

Catherine's willingness to see dark secrets in ordinary events leads her on a search of the Abbey for clues to the suspected murder of General Tilney's wife. In a gentle confrontation, Henry ends the search, but is not able to save her from the sudden wrath of the General, who banishes her from the Abbey. A heartbroken Catherine is separated from Henry and Catherine, and returned unceremoniously to her home. There, an unexpected visit by Henry Tilney will offer an explanation for what happened at Northanger Abbey and a chance to reunite with the Tilneys.

Readers expecting a story with the heft of "Pride and Prejudice" or "Mansfield Park" may be disappointed. However, "Northanger Abbey" is a fun book on its own terms, very much a Jane Austen product and likely to be enjoyed by her fans. It is highly recommended as an entertaining read.

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Northanger Abbey: Janeites rejoice in this light and lively tour de force

Northanger Abbey is a gem. Jane Austen (1775-1817)has written a charmiing little novel about a charming little lady named Catherine Moreland. Catherine is 15 as the novel begins in Wiltshire. She and the hilariously stupid Mrs. Allen go on a six week trip to nearby Bath to take the waters. Catherine meets the fashionable and fast Isabella Thorpe. Catherine dances with the clergyman Henry Tilney at a ball becoming infatuated with the clever young man. Henry and Catherine share a love for the Romantic Gothic novels of such authors as Ann Radcliff and Fanny Burney. Complications ensue but in the end the couple are wed.
The first half of the novel deals with doings in Bath; the second half is a trip taken by Catherine to the Tilney estate Northanger Abbey. Catherine thinks the house may contain a ghost as she is influenced in her thinking by a vivid imagination fueled by her sensational Gothic reading.
Minor characters are of interest: Captain Frederick Tilney the ladies man brother of Henry; old General Tilney the gruff father of Fred and Henry; Catherine's parents and Eleanor Tilney the kind and lovely sister of the two Tilney boys with whom Catherine forms a solid friendship.
The book includes a spirited defense of the art of novel writing by Miss Austen. It is a light and commonplace tale of young love told with the wit and wisdom of one of England's greatest authors. This less well known Austen novel is a delightful way to become an addict of the spinster from Hawton parsongage!

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Fill out your Austen collection

As a lover of Austen novels, it is well worth reading "Northanger Abby", which was Austen's first (but last published) novel. As her first novel, her writing style is still rough and lacks some of the refinment of her later works, but she still brings her sharp eye for satire and examination of societal/marriage topics. Catherine Morland pales in comparison to later strong heronies like Elizabeth Bennet or Fanny Price, but she's delightful to read and chuckle about her naive outlook on life.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Jane Austen?s first novel, Northanger Abbey?published posthumously in 1818?tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen?s fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her subsequent visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine eventually triumphs, blossoming into a discerning woman who learns truths about love, life, and the heady power of literature. The satirical Northanger Abbey pokes fun at the gothic novel while earnestly emphasizing caution to the female sex.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the first edition of 1818.

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