Northanger Abbey

March 17, 2014
Scottish crime writer McDermid (Cross and Burn) adeptly reworks Jane Austen's Gothic satire for the modern audiences. A homeschooled minister's daughter bored by the "narrow confines" of the Dorset countryside and her "deeply average and desperately dull" family, Cat is given her break when her neighbors invite her as their guest to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. There, Cat befriends the needy Bella Thorpe who fancies Cat's brother and meets the captivating Henry Tilney, with his "heroic" face and "luxuriant honey-blond hair." Drama ensues. "When she looked back on that first meeting, Cat would wonder whether she should have been more wary of a man who began their acquaintance with such a blatant lie. For there was nothing gentle about what followed." As Cat gets acquainted with Eleanor, Henry's sister, she secures an invitation to their family home, the enchanting Northanger Abbey, a mansion of possible secrets that stirs the darkest recesses of Cat's overworked imagination. Following Austen's storyline but diverging in distinctive ways of her own, McDermid captures the naivete of the protagonist of Austen's prose, though at times her teenage characters come off as contrived in their language and behavior. Rife with conflicts of love, gossip, misunderstandings, and updates on social media, it is an accessible and enjoyable read, especially rewarding for young readers as a gateway into appreciating the classics. Agent: Jane Gregory, Gregory & Company.

Even Liz Pearce's enthusiasm and talent with a variety of accents cannot make this story an enjoyable experience. In this updated version of the Jane Austen novel, home-schooled and overly imaginative Cat Morland jumps at the opportunity to go to Edinburgh with family friends for a festival. There she meets the shallow and irritating Bella Thorpe and her snarky, obnoxious brother, John. She also falls hard for and wrangles an invitation from hunky Henry Tilney to visit his ancestral home, Northanger Abbey, which she's convinced hides secrets. Pearce's best effort is her portrayal of Bella Thorpe, whose nasal, high-pitched voice and habit of drawing out her words soooo often are perfect for her unlikable character. A.C.P. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine


Austen's parody of a gothic novel gets an elegant reading to match its elegant prose. Sheltered Catherine Morland goes to fashionable Bath with a wealthy neighbor and discovers society and love. Juliet Stevenson gives each character a unique voice--the duplicitous Isabelle; Catherine's suitor, Henry Tinley; and Catherine's vacuous hostess--and invests each conversation with energy and importance. At the same time, as Austen, Stevenson steps back and comments on gothic heroines and Catherine's failures at becoming one. The delivery of Henry's fanciful description of the Abbey as a dark and mysterious place is a mini-classic in itself. Those who love Austen's fiction will appreciate this classy production. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine