Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Pages: 241

Finished: December 10, 2017

First Sentence: No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine. 

Summary: Catherine Morland, an unabashed novel enthusiast, travels to Bath with her neighbors. She meets all manner of people including the Tilneys and the Thorpes. Naive Catherine fumbles her way through her time in Bath believing everyone in earnest, little understanding that some people will say anything to appear better than they are. As she gets to know the Tilneys better, they invite her to stay with them a while at Northanger Abbey. There, she lets her imagination get the better of her as she longs to discover what sordid secrets the Abbey may hold.

Thoughts: Last time I read through all of Austen, I ranked this book as #3. I haven't read through them all again, so I don't know how it stands in relation to her others, but I do enjoy it ever so much. It's so light and fun. Catherine herself is so artless and unsuspecting. Henry and Eleanor are such excellent friends for her. And the supporting cast is, of course, ridiculous. Somehow, I've yet to read The Mysteries of Udolpho, though I really should get on that!

I did go ahead and watch the 2007 adaptation directly after finishing the novel. I do remember really enjoying this adaptation when it came out. I have a feeling J.J. Field had something to do with that, along with the fact that I was in college. I still enjoy it, but the characters are certainly different than they were in the book. Moreover, the entire Northanger Abbey sequence has been condensed and moved around to really change the tone of the novel.

I did enjoy the book very much though. A welcome break from the Dickens I'm reading.

Read for Back to the Classics Challenge: Romance.