L'abbazia di Northanger

Catherine Morland, a seventeen-year-old clergyman's daughter who reads too many Gothic novels, is invited to Bath, where she befriends Isabella Thorpe and meets the witty Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor. Invited to stay at the Tilneys' home, Northanger Abbey, she lets her imagination run, expecting hidden passages and a murdered wife in the walls, and her fantasies lead to embarrassment. The real dangers in the book are social: fortune-hunting men and a dishonest friend. Jane Austen wrote this novel as a gentle parody of the Gothic genre.

For readers who like Austen's lighter, comic side, or those who enjoy stories about the gap between novels and life. It is a short, entertaining read.

Balanced in tone; a moderate read.

Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?