Stephanie Jane reviewed Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
My favourite Austen
5 stars
Northanger Abbey is easily my favourite of the five Jane Austen novels I have read so far this year. From what I have heard about Emma, I think it may well turn out to be my favourite of the whole challenge! A considerably shorter work than some of the others, there isn't the space for lengthy diversions so I appreciated Austen's maintaining a good narrative pace throughout. I could empathise with ill-at-ease Catherine and really began to root for her once she started standing up to the selfish Thorpes.
What I now recognise as Austen trademarks are all present and correct! Much of the action happens in Bath society. The older female character, in this case the airheaded Mrs Allen, provides much of the humour, and no attachment can be assumed to be secured until the church bells have rung. I loved the additional excursion into Gothic darkness and Catherine's …
Northanger Abbey is easily my favourite of the five Jane Austen novels I have read so far this year. From what I have heard about Emma, I think it may well turn out to be my favourite of the whole challenge! A considerably shorter work than some of the others, there isn't the space for lengthy diversions so I appreciated Austen's maintaining a good narrative pace throughout. I could empathise with ill-at-ease Catherine and really began to root for her once she started standing up to the selfish Thorpes.
What I now recognise as Austen trademarks are all present and correct! Much of the action happens in Bath society. The older female character, in this case the airheaded Mrs Allen, provides much of the humour, and no attachment can be assumed to be secured until the church bells have rung. I loved the additional excursion into Gothic darkness and Catherine's first night at Northanger Abbey is wonderfully atmospheric. I felt Austen spoke directly to her readers more in this book than in the others. Apparently this was the first she completed although one of the last to actually see publication. Perhaps a future editor discouraged the style, but I enjoyed her defense of novelists and her frequent namedropping of other authors she liked herself. I am now seriously considering the six Mrs Radcliffe novels for my 2018 challenge!
