Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen Collection)
Austen's witty exploration of the perils of mistaking fiction for reality
During an eventful season at Bath, young, naïve Catherine Morland experiences the joys of fashionable society for the first time. She is delighted with her new acquaintances: flirtatious Isabella, who shares Catherine's love of Gothic romance and horror, and sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who invite her to their father's mysterious house, Northanger Abbey. There, her imagination influenced by novels of sensation and intrigue, Catherine imagines terrible crimes committed by General Tilney. With its broad comedy and irrepressible heroine, this is the most youthful and and optimistic of Jane Austen's works. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
One of my favourite Austen works, the want of a literary adventure leaving room for a real-life adventure that gives you hope for yourself in any era. Catherine is a book nerd that finds her love in another nerd that survives her youthful conflation and their family and friends blatant hijinx.
3.25* out of all of Austen's novels this one might be the most half-baked, the plot is a little underwhelming and the leading man also a little underwhelming. However, if you are a fan of gothic novels the literary references and the witty remarks make it more enjoyable. It's one of her shorter novels so it could be more accessible for people just starting out, but if that was the case I would recommend Persuasion over Northanger Abbey, as it resembles Austen's other work more closely in terms of pace, themes, and storytelling.
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