Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed for publication, but published after her death, at the end of 1817. The novel is a satire of the Gothic novels popular at the time of its first writing in 1798-99. The heroine, Catherine, thinks life is like a Gothic novel, but her real experiences bring her down to earth as an ordinary young woman. Vistiting Bath with her friend Mrs.Allen, an older but flighty, irresponsible woman; Catherine Moorland falls in love with Henry Tilney, a young clergyman. Believing her to be wealthy, Henry's father invites her to Northanger Abbey, the Tilney home. Greatly influenced by her reading of mysteries, Catherine sees Northanger Abbey as a house of nightmarish mysteries. But is it just her imagination, or is there something more sinister lurking in the cloisters ?