‘“Oh! It is only a novel!” . only some work in which the powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.’ Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is a sincere and warm-hearted young girl who has led a sheltered life. Poor, inexperienced Catherine doesn’t know that her innocence and naiveté will prove to be perilous when she steps into society for the first time. Here she is at Bath on vacation with her neighbours, but she has nothing to defend herself against the wiles of the people she encounters. Possessed by an overactive imagination and a boundless love for Gothic thrillers, Catherine’s next visit is to the eerie mansion of Northanger Abbey, where she is invited by one of her acquaintances. Heady from the power of literature she consumes every day, Catherine finds horrible secrets in every room, ultimately suspecting the owner of the house to have murdered his own wife. Will Catherine keep delving into delusions throughout her visit? Or will she come out a discerning woman with a changed worldview and understanding of life?
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. With the publications of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. Her novels have rarely been out of print, although they were published anonymously and brought her little fame during her lifetime. A significant transition in her posthumous reputation occurred in 1869, fifty-two years after her death, when her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider audience.
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