Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey is an earlier Austen, and I think it shows. While it’s not necessarily “simpler” than Emma or Pride and Prejudice (the only other Austen books I’ve read so far) it is less complex. 

The crux of the plot is that Catherine Morland, a young woman in love with gothic novels, goes to Bath and, via miscommunication, she and her brother are believed to have considerably more money than they actually do, and acquire suitors based on that information. Catherine, meanwhile, constructs and epic gothic novel around Eleanor and Henry Tilney, siblings she befriends in Bath, and Catherine is later invited to visit Eleanor at their gothic home, Northanger Abbey.

I’ve seen this described as both a parody of gothic novels and a warning about too much fiction, and while I can see both arguments, I don’t agree with either. There is something of a cautionary warning about taking fiction too seriously and looking for it in reality, but I think there’s also a lot of love for fiction (and for love of fiction) too. And, really, I think that anyone who has ever been a teenager in love with fiction is going to see a bit of themselves in Catherine, though some may not like it. (Actually, my favorite bit re: fiction and reading was when Catherine said that she liked trashy gothic novels more than Serious Real Books because Serious Real Books didn't have enough women. Oh Jane Austen, if only you knew how persistent that would remain...)

In general, I liked this a lot and thought it was a fun read (note: I almost always like anything that features young women running around spooky old houses, looking for secrets) but had problems with a couple parts.

( more )