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'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen

FTC disclaimer: I was not sent this product. I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned. All opinions are my own.




Rating: 4 / 5


Plot Introduction by me:

Up until Catherine Morland turns seventeen, she has had a fairly sedate life. Neither noticeably stunning, nor by any means ugly; neither particularly rich nor poor, her entire existence sits on a fence.

However, when family friends, the Allens, invite her to stay in Bath for a month, how can she refuse?

What follows is a tale of first friendships, romance, and even a bit of gothic storytelling!






Never before could I have conceived of struggling to put down an Austen!


The prose was accessible and exciting, and the descriptions were never too frilly. Regency era social etiquette was entertainingly depicted, and I loved the character development of Isabella and John Thorpe (a pair siblings who are Catherine's first friends in Bath). John Thorpe was like a cross between Alec D'Urberville and Mr Collins. Romantic pacing was satisfying, as was the way that Catherine did not play into either of the two regency heroine steroetypes: the outspoken Emma/Elizabeth nor the quietly angelic Fanny . Even by the end of the novel, Catherine does not know exactly who she is, which was a fresh idea... but I now need a sequel!


My main complaint was the sense of unfinished-ness about the novel (nothing to do with Catherine). Austen frequently addresses the reader, either to tell us that we must imagine certain conversations for ourselves, or to justify narrative decisions. These additions sometimes added a nice meta slant, but mostly made me feel that the author wasn't confident in her writing, making me less confident in it.


And the ending! Gosh it was so rushed - as if Austen had just wanted to tie up all her strings neatly and move onto a different novel. 'Northanger Abbey' easily deserved to be a third longer, what with all the twists at the end.

I believe that it has got less attention than some of her other novels because it doesn't quite know what it is. A romance? A gothic thriller? A coming of age story? Somehow it worked for me... for the most part.


Of course, the simile "rich as a Jew" (used multiple times) fell uncomfortably on my ears considering 20th Century history, but the phrase was obviously a product of it's time.


Despite all my criticisms, I had to rate this book highly because I simply loved reading it!



Review written on 10/01/22



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