Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Pages/Format: 236/paperback

What I Thought: Now that I’ve read Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park is the only Jane Austen book I haven’t read. 

Northanger Abbey is about 17-year-old Catherine Morland.  She visits Bath, England for the 1st time with the Allens, who are her neighbors.  She is invited to stay at Northanger Abbey by General Tilney; she’s friends with his daughter Eleanor, and his son, Henry is Catherine’s love interest. 

Northanger Abbey is probably my least favorite of Jane Austen’s novels.  I liked it, but found myself bored while reading it.  It did take me a couple times to really enjoy Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my absolute favorite books, so I’m willing to give Northanger Abbey another chance.  However, I did like Volume 2, which takes place in Northanger Abbey much better than Volume 1. 

Catherine does mature throughout the novel, as she learns that life does not always resemble fiction, and that things are not always what they appear to be.  A great example of this is when her friend Isabella gets engaged to Catherine’s brother James.  The engagement gets broken off when it comes out that Isabella was flirting with another man.  Over the course of the novel, she learns that she doesn’t need to rely on others, and it’s okay to be independent. 

I did like Catherine, who lived her life as though she were a heroine in the Gothic novels that she loved to read.  She’s very imaginative, which is something that worked well for her; at the same time, it wasn’t something that was shown very often.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.  While not my favorite Jane Austen novel, and while I was slightly bored reading it, it was still a good read, and I found certain parts of it kept me on the edge of my seat.