"When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of 'Gothic novels' by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn. However, the truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction."
Ooh - so many enticing words: "delights and perils ... await her," "mystery and romance," "beguiling," "truth ... stranger than fiction." Sadly, the promise fell flat. I declare I must not be a Jane Austen fan. The knock-off novel, Longbourn, with the story of the servants in Austen's Pride and Prejudice household offered more reading pleasure than this sad audio journey. Indeed, I only continued listening because, as a classic, I knew it would not contain questionable content. I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't love it either.
I felt no compassion for Catherine Morland as she complained about her lot in life and the troublesome terrain of social niceties. Her woes were trivial. Horrified at a turn of events that made her look unsociable, Catherine is beside herself with anxiety and terror. I understand that as a period piece it must reflect the sensibilities of the time, but I was not hooked by the tale at all. I had hoped to listen to Pride and Prejudice next, but now I am not so sure I will gamble on another Austen book. My only consolation was that it was a clean read.
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