Northanger Abbey - An Honest Review

“No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be a heroine.” 

​So begins the Jane Austen novel Northanger Abbey. 

​I just read this book this past week, and being someone who generally doesn’t like Jane Austen, I thought it might be interesting to give you my honest opinions on this book.

A little background on why I chose to read this book - for the past three years I have read one Jane Austen novel over the summer, Sense and Sensibility in 2021, Pride and Prejudice in 2022, and not to be forgotten, half of Emma in 2022. 

​I don’t typically love Jane Austen, not because of her lack of skill, or the weakness of her plots and characters, because to say that would be a falsehood. But mainly because I find the messages and topics boring and unimportant. I often find the romances shallow and dependent on money which isn’t something I particularly like. 

People often assume since I love old literature I love Jane Austen like a good girl. But quite frankly, my first experiences with Jane weren’t all that enjoyable.
 
I can’t say that her books didn’t pull me in, because they did. I can’t say I didn’t feel anxious for her characters, because I did (perhaps even more so than any other characters in any other books to date), but they just weren’t my thing and the shallowness of the minds of the female characters annoyed me. 

Last year I watched the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and began to love that story, but it was Keira Knightly and the stunning cinematography that did it for me (please don’t get upset at me all of you who think the BBC 6 -hour mini-series is superior.)

​But we aren’t here to talk about my feelings about Jane’s work as a whole, are we? We’re here to talk about Northanger Abbey.

{photo credit - Goodreads}

I had heard of Northanger Abbey before, I knew it was Jane’s comedy, and that interested me because I never could understand her supposed wit in her more serious novels. 

Then, a few weeks ago I watched a fantastic book club discussion on darling desi’s YouTube channel that made me want to read this book with a passion. 

I read it in a week, and reader, I loved it! (yes I made a Jane Eyre reference in a post about Jane Austen.) I can hardly believe I’m saying that, but first, let’s back up a little.

***

Northanger Abbey was the first novel Jane Austen ever wrote and sold. Unfortunately, the publishing firm she sold it to didn’t publish it, so Jane repurchased it. It was then published posthumously in a volume alongside her final work - Persuasion.

​Northanger Abbey is a satire or parody of the gothic fiction that was so popular at the time of her writing. Her main character, 17-year-old Catherine Morland is a devout reader of the gothic novels of the era. Jane satirizes the gothic style using the technique she is greatest known for - irony. 

Almost all of the gothic elements of the story take place due to Catherine’s over-imaginative mind and Henry Tilney’s teasing (more on him later).

Although this story is a romance and a drama, it is primarily a comedy and I could tell. I laughed out loud at least four times, which I hardly ever do while reading!

The characters in this book were likable and loveable and hateable like good characters should be. Catherine really was the perfect heroine for a book like this, and I thoroughly enjoyed being in her head. 

One thing I really appreciated about this book was how Jane portrayed the romance. In her other books things tend to seem understated (did anyone else have to go back and reread the passage where Mr. Darcy proposes several times to see if he really loved Lizzy or if it was just your imagination?) In this book, the characters talk about love, as we speak of it now. 

A young lady admits (at least to herself) that she is in love with that man, and he tells her fervently that he loves her. It’s not buried in fancy lingo, it’s out in the open and it’s simple. I wonder if it’s because this was Jane’s first book, when she was young and before she was trying to fit into what society expected of love. 

The chemistry between Catherine and Henry is wonderful too. They are friends and they enjoy the company of each other, they tease, but they do not throw snide remarks toward each other. Catherine is innocent, and trusting, but not too trusting, and Henry is sweet and admiring. 

​The whole plot of the book made sense, and I didn’t have to go back and reread in order to understand the passages better.

​I also felt that in this book Jane utilizes imagery better than I’ve seen her do in the past. She takes the time to describe nature and architecture and how people look, it made me feel more invested in the story.

{photo credit - Annie Sprat on Unsplash}

In the area of complaints, I don’t have many. Of course, I despised a few characters (I won’t tell you because… spoilers!), and there were a few moments when the gothic parody became cheesy, but I assume that was almost her point. 

As for messages I think the main point of Northanger Abbey is to value stories but keep them from taking hold of your way of thinking. 

Towards the beginning of the book, Jane makes an argument for novels, which were often looked down upon at the time, even by the writers of such works. “Yes, novels;- for I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolite custom so common with novel writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they themselves are adding…”

But also throughout the book she makes it known that Catherine let her fears, worries, and assumptions be based on things that only happen in books, and causing many misunderstandings for wrong assumptions. Jane is telling an audience who simultaneously scorns and reads novels that the only danger is when we let our imaginations be overtaken by fiction, a truth that can still be applied today.

All in all, this was a fantastic novel that I would highly recommend.

Since I have no idea how to end this post, I shall end with my own adaptation of the very last sentence in the book -
“I leave it to be settled by whomsoever it may concern, weather the tendency of this work be to recommend the reading of this book, or reward those who think critically about such things as Jane Austen.”

Belle Thomas

​Belle is the writer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about Jesus, good books, and living a beautiful life