Northanger Abbey

Locations
Call Number: Fiction, Adult Book / Fiction / General / McDermid, Val
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / McDermid, Val	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / McDermid, Val	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"First published in Great Britain in 2014 by The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers"-- Title page verso.
In this modern retelling of Austen's classic, bookish minister's daughter Cat Morland joins her well-to-do friends in Edinburgh and falls for an up-and-coming lawyer who may harbor unsettling secrets.
Contents: Northanger Abbey.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

If I Can Just Spare One Person From Experiencing the Same Pain I Endured... submitted by krysia on June 25, 2014, 1:05pm I am a huge Jane Austen fan, which is what intrigued me about this novel. However, I was let down by it because the author's inconsistent style irritated me to no end. She tried, unsuccessfully, to write in turn-of-the19th Century Georgian tone and vernacular, while peppering the text with current slang (totes, OMG) but it not work. She should have stuck with one style, like in Clueless, which was loosely based on Emma, and told in a contemporary way.

I also didn't think the author's "modern updates" were believable. No one speaks about Facebook and Twitter like the heroine in the story did, or even uses it in quite the way described. I also didn't buy the engagement storyline of Cat's (the heroine) brother with one of her friends.

Austen bubblegum submitted by mstrasma on July 17, 2015, 3:11pm A pleasant read, lighter than the original. I never have high expectations for books based on, but not by, Austen, so this was fine and better than most. You have to accept that the premise of the original is making fun of both shallow heroines and even the even shallower pretentions of upper-middle-class society. In fat, McDermid's Catherine comes across as less silly than the original. Conversely, though, where one would expect a modern version to lack the reticence of Austen's age regarding, ahem, physical expressions of attraction, the Catherine-Henry romance seemed even more sedate than the original. This made no sense....until I reached the end, and understood that it was necessary for this version! Overall, should be a pleasant amusement to both fans of the original and those for whom the story is new.

A lot of fun submitted by dicencal on August 11, 2016, 8:29am This book is a fun reimagining of Austen's Northanger Abbey. McDermid has made a brilliant choice in relocating the action in Bath to the Edinburgh festivals, and it really works.

Austin is better submitted by kathscot on July 21, 2017, 4:57pm While McDermid had some clever ideas for modernization others were less effective. I found Austin's version much better.