Northanger Abbey Book Club Begins!
If you’re new to this Substack, one of the things I’m offering subscribers in 2023 is A Year with Jane. We’re reading through Austen’s six novels this year and Northanger Abbey is our read for October.
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Survival Mode, Folks
My apologies for the late reflection on our October Year of Jane read! My husband left Saturday for a 12 day trip, so, naturally, my kids all got sick on Sunday. A combination of a crummy cold and Strep Throat are circulating through our home. So I’m in survival mode (and This Week’s Miscellany may not arrive this weekend, either—sorry!).
Week One of Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey has a wildly different feel from our melancholy recent read: Sense & Sensibility. Northanger Abbey is comical and even a little snarky.
Catherine Morland, the protagonist, is the youngest of all the Austen heroines. She is sweet, but naive. She has not learned to discern other people’s characters well which leaves her vulnerable to manipulation. She’s gullible and artless.
In the first few chapters, we meet Henry Tilney and his sister, Eleanor.
Henry has the best sense of humor of the Austen heroes (I’d say that Emma’sMr. Knightley is a close second in the humor department) and quickly cultivates a bantering friendship with Catherine.
We also meet Catherine’s brother James and his friend John Thorpe who is just the worst.
But we’ve all met that guy, right? John Thorpe is made for a good film adaptation (of which there are none for this novel). He’s so funny and so terrible. I can just imagine an updated Northanger Abbey with John Thorpe bragging about his car and talking about the party scene at college.
And then there’s Isabella Thorpe, John’s sister, who is romantically attached to James Morland. She immediately latches on to Catherine who interprets all of Isabella’s actions in the most charitable light. We’ll see what happens there.
Discussion questions: What do you think of Northanger Abbey so far? How is it different from Austen’s other novels? Do you find Catherine to be a compelling protagonist? Chime in!
Reading schedule:
Week of October 4th:
Gather your books and read Chapters 1-8 of Northanger Abbey. There are many editions out there, so just grab what’s on your shelf or at the local library. And if you enjoy audiobooks, this is an excellent novel to enjoy with a great narrator. My favorite for this novel is Juliet Stevenson’s audiobook version. Grab Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life from Ave Maria Press (use STEWART20 for 20% off) or from Amazon.
If you didn’t start reading with us in January, you may want to catch up by reading the Introduction and Chapters 1-5 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life to set the stage.
October 8th-14th:
We’ll discuss Chapters 1-8.
Read Chapters 9-15 of Northanger Abbey
October 15th-21st:
We’ll discuss Chapters 9-15.
Read Chapters 16-23 of Northanger Abbey
October 22nd-28th:
We’ll discuss Chapters 16-23.
Read Chapters 24-31 of Northanger Abbey
October 29th-November 5th:
We’ll discuss Chapters 24-31.
Read Chapter 6 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life
Caveat:
On the reading schedule I have suggested reading the chapter about Northanger Abbey after finishing the novel. This is because as a reader I hate spoilers. But if you’ve already read the novel or are familiar with the story and want a resource to help you dive deeper as you re-read it, feel free to read Chapter 6 of Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life first.
I’ll be sending out weekly reflections and discussion questions to consider as you read. If you want to read faster or slower, go for it. This is fun, not homework.
If you know someone who would enjoy reading Austen with us for our Year of Jane, please share this post with him/her!
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Looking forward to discussing Northanger Abbey with you!
Haley
(Editor of Word on Fire Spark, Author, Former Podcaster)
Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns
Haley’s Book on Jane Austen’s Novels
Haley’s Book about Radical Simplicity
I think Northanger Abbey is easily the snarkiest out of all of Austen’s books. She really lets her narrator laugh at the foibles and flaws of her characters in a way that’s much more direct than in the other Austen novels. We are meant to be ‘above’ and better judging than Catherine in a way we aren’t with other Austen novels where we are “taken in” as they are. Austen makes it painfully clear that the Thorpes are bad news, whereas with characters like Willoughby and Wickham the red flags only appear in hindsight. And I think that’s because of the kind of heroine Catherine is. She is the innocent, simple, good hearted protagonist who has lived a sheltered life and is forced to become acquainted with “the ways of the world.” Catherine’s mistake is to focus on fictional dangers and miss the daily/more mundane dangers she is more likely to face (she’s right to be wary of General Tilney and sees enough to realize that he is not an ideal father, but she is wrong to think the danger he presents is that which she reads about in novels). I think Catherine is very similar to Jane Bennett/a younger version of her-sees the best in others/assumes everyone is operating from good motives because she does so herself. Unlike Jane though, her match is not similar to her in temperament but rather an opposite that balances her out. Henry can help her discern more clearly the ways in which people/situations can be more/worse than they appear, and Catherine can keep Henry’s cynicism in check/save him from only seeing duplicity/inconsistency in the world.
Get well soon!
I love Catherine and want to give her a big hug as she is so warm hearted . When I first read this I was inspired to have a go with some gothic novels . Boy did I struggle as they go on and on and on. The thing that impresses me is the incredible physical strength of the heroines when their virtue is threatened, especially the one who escaped the clutches of the villain by making a canoe and canoeing from North America to England , quite some feat