Catherine Morland is an impressionable young lady who loves the thrill of a gothic novel. Leaving a somewhat sheltered life behind, she goes to Bath to stay with the Allens, her neighbours from the country, and her real life adventures soon begin. She becomes best friends with Miss Thorpe, a star of the social set, and is delighted to discover that her brother has also become besotted with Miss Thorpe through his friendship with her brother. Catherine is avidly anticipating the day when they become "sisters", but there is a fly in the ointment in the shape of the boorish John Thorpe who seems to have designs on Catherine, but she is having none of it! Into this mix come brother and sister, Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who are gentle and humorous and Catherine is very much drawn to them both. When the Tilney's invite her to their home at Northanger Abbey, she readily accepts. At first, she is treated exceedingly well by their father, the General, but, heavily influenced by her addiction to gothic novels, she becomes convinced that the General has a dark secret concerning his departed wife... Whilst I did enjoy this book on the whole, I do not feel that it is of Jane Austen's best works. Catherine was just too gullible, too silly and too willing to go with the flow. I like my heroines with a bit more fire in their bellies. That said, there are a lot worse ways to spend a few hours in the company of these characters, particularly when you read the audio edition narrated by Juliet Stephenson, who is a dream of a narrator to listen to.
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 224 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.99p.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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