My second installment of the riveting Literary Friday series is about Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.
The reason this novel is so low on my list isn't because I dislike it, its because I cringe throughout most of the book.
The main character Catherine Morland is a sweet, earnest and oh so naive girl. She is easily manipulated at varies times. Her imagination gets her into trouble and she over corrects in ways that it is hard to read. Yet I like her and I feel bad for her most of the time.
On her adventure to Bath she meets two sets of siblings. The Thorpes and the Tilneys.
The Thorpes, Isabella and John, are manipulative and self-centered creatures. What starts out as a fast friendship between Isabella and Catherine becomes twisted once their brothers arrive. Both of the Thorpes are looking to marry higher up and they have focused on the Morland siblings.
It is obvious to the reader that the Thorpes are not good people. Slowly Catherine gets the sense of that too. Mainly because of the comparison the the Tilneys.
Introduced first to Catherine is the wonderful Mr. Henry Tilney.
He may be my favorite of the Austen main men.
He is charming, funny and kind.
So of course Catherine falls in love instantly.
Catherine then manages to strike up a friendship with Miss Tilney, Mr Tilney's kind and caring sister.
There is of course hitches the the love affair between Mr. Tilney and Catherine. The Thorpes being the lesser evil here. Mr. Tilney's father really gets involved. He wants them together when he thinks she is rich and then throws her out of the house all alone when he finds out she isn't.
This book makes it very clear who the good and the bad characters are. The villains show themselves clearly even if it takes Catherine awhile to realize.
This was Jane Austen first novel.
You can tell that she was still trying to find her voice in the literary world. There are times throughout the book that the style of narrative changes. It is like breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the reader. After reading all of her books I notice it more than if it were my first Austen book.
Also she relies on the assumption that the reader has read, or at least heard about, the books her character Catherine and the others have read. I would like to read The Mysteries of Udolpho simply because I want to know what they were on about.
This is still a great book despite not being her best.
Mr. Tilney alone is worth reading it for.
I picture Tom Hiddleston as Tilney for some reason ; )
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