Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Catherine Morland is a young girl with a very active imagination. Her entry into the fashionable scene in Bath results in an invitation to stay with new friends at Northanger Abbey, but Catherine’s naivety and love of sensational novels lead to embarrassing and entertaining consequences.
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Northanger Abbey is one of the two Jane Austen novels I had never read until now. Given that her books were an obsession for me in High School, this seems almost impossible. But it’s true, the title of this book always scared me off. Thinking about an Abbey just reminded me of stuffiness, until Downton of course. But I finally forayed into this novel and it was such a pleasant surprise! Northanger Abbey is one of Austen’s more comedic novels, at every turn there was some new impossibly ridiculous obstacle for our heroine and the best part? It was slightly gothic as well! I had so much fun with this read and I’m heartbroken that my punky teenage self never got to experience this story. Catherine Morland is far from my favourite Jane Austen heroine, but her story right now is probably ranking top three along with Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice for me.
This book was very unique to what I’m used to when it comes to Austen’s works. I’m a sucker for the romantic hero and I tend to avoid the comedies but after Emma was re-adapted I was reminded of just how genius the humour in these books could be. Northanger Abbey is, I think, the height of Jane Austen’s comedy. The villains are extra villain-y (the type we love to hate), the melodrama was heightened almost to unrealistic degrees, and the suspense was short and sharp but very witty. It was almost a parody of a gothic novel in the second half and I absolutely loved it. Is this where Bronte got the idea for a wife locked in the attic? Who knows?
I wasn’t as invested in the romantic interest as I would have liked. Austen’s other works highly romanticize the male leads to impossible standards (hello Colonel Brandon and, of course, Mr. Darcy). But in this, Henry Tilney was a bit more realistic…. And because of this he didn’t hold much interest for me. (Story of my life, why can’t every man be Colin Firth?). But his banter with Catherine was extremely enjoyable (I’m a sucker for witty banter), and his compassion won me over in the end.
The “villains” of this novel somewhat snuck up on me. I was totally taken in by Isabella. Sure she was annoying, but I didn’t think she’d end up being such a fake friend. All my attention was focused on hating her brother, John Thorpe, that I didn’t really realize Isabella’s true nature until it was too late. John Thorpe, on the other hand, was the bane of my existence while reading this! He was such a loathsome character that I wanted to reach into that book and yank him out by his hair and chuck him into oncoming traffic… (too violent? Sorry not sorry!). He thwarted true love at every turn and I could not believe the nerve on this guy. Typical “won’t take no for an answer” and even when I thought we were done with him, he still manages to wreak havoc from afar right till the end of the book. General Tilney, however, wasn’t what I was expecting. Honestly I don’t understand the hate? Yes he ended up being a pretty awful guy at one part but until the catalyst that turned him into a brute, he was very nice and described as very handsome and he eventually comes around so seeing all the reviews on goodreads hating on this guy confused me a lot. To me, the real villains were the Thorpe’s…. And Catherine’s imagination.
I greatly enjoyed this book and it’s inspired me to get back into rereading Jane Austen’s other less romantic books sometime this year. I gave it three stars because I highly enjoyed it and it did make me laugh out loud, however, I missed the great romance that Austen is so well known for. If you’re an Austen fan but haven’t read this yet, I definitely encourage you to pick it up!