“But Catherine did not know her own advantages - did not know that a good-looking girl, with an affectionate heart and a very ignorant mind, cannot fail of attracting a clever young man, unless circumstances are particularly untoward.”

Catherine Moreland is an average seventeen-year-old. She is an avid reader, a lover of sports and an imaginative young woman. She is at the age that ladies of her era are meant to be participating in courtship and settling into a new family to live a life of ease.

Catherine’s favorite genre to read is gothic fiction, a romanticized, dark and mysterious genre. As Catherine grows older and begins to meet more of the world outside of her family to increase her social circle, her imagination begins to get the better of her. Everyday scenarios become romanticized and dramatic, natural deaths become mysterious, and innocent motives are questioned as Catherine fancies herself a character in a Gothic drama. Catherine’s naivete and escapism are what holds her back from maturing into an adult.

Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen’s satirical take on the popular gothic fiction of her days, and was published posthumously along with Persuasion. The book’s witty parody of the genre is humorous and self-referential at times. This is a classic coming of age story blended with over-the-top drama, fascinating characters, and Jane Austen’s eloquence.

PJ Roscoe

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