Austen in the abbey

Austen, Jane ~ Northanger Abbey

When I selected this book I thought
I’d have a whole bevy of trollops hunting me down if I didn’t include an Austen book in the blog. This is not such a bad thing in itself, but I’d rather a high tea than a lynching.

50-word description
Catherine Morland is a parson’s daughter of marrying age but modest looks, wealth and talents. She accompanies family friends on a trip to Bath and encounters society, real and false friendships, romance and an alarming mystery.

150-word review
Northanger Abbey has been described as Austen’s Gothic novel, her most satirical book and her practice work. It’s all of those in small quantities but is a lot more when the surface is scratched, rather like the character of the everygirl heroine within its pages.

I felt most deeply for the naive Catherine departing her country life for entrance into Bath’s society, and the loneliness and social awkwardness of herself and her patron, who was also lacking acquaintances. Until a serendipitous encounter saved them from a lonely season, I had flashbacks for all of us who have been last picked for teams at school gym classes and pondered our need to belong, regardless of the century.

Interrupting the developing love story is Catherine’s veering into a fanciful Gothic horror tale of her own creation. Fans of the genre will appreciate the subtelties and wit of Austen’s experimentation with the literary craze of her era in both the narrative and Catherine’s beloved hobby, but for me the most endearing theme was Catherine’s coming of age and learning that people are not as they seem.

jane austen ~ northanger abbey

Found in
Fiction A

Read
May 09

Links
Jane Austen Society of Australia web site
Frankston Library catalogue link

Rating
Engaging

This is book 23 of the project.

To the next shelf?

Should I change from A to B?

I consulted the Magic Eight Ball.

It’s time to acquaint myself with the contents of the ‘B’ shelves. I am feeling a few pangs of guilt about missing prolific and popular writers including Cecelia Ahern and Piers Anthony, but the power of books and libraries is that they’ll be there for another time.

There is one beloved ‘A’ author who cannot go unacknowledged, and I shall finish this letter of the alphabet with her in the next post.