by Jane Austen, 1803 but published 1817 (posthumously)
Seems so petty – young girls falling in love – but I couldn’t put it down!
Catherine Morland, 17, gets to go to Bath with Mr. and Mrs. Allen. She meets the Thorpes – Isabella becomes her dear friend. Isabella is in love (supposedly) with Catherine’s brother, James. Isabella’s brother, John, is a conceited liar. Catherine met Henry Tilney and his sister, Eleanor. They are true friends and they invite her to their home, Northanger Abbey. Their father, General Tilney, at first adores Catherine. Then, one day, he orders her to leave, no explanation. It turns out John Thorpe had told General Tilney the Morland’s were wealthy. And then he told them they were not. When the General found out she wasn’t rich, he wanted her gone. Henry would have none of that – rushes to her home 70 miles away and asks to marry her. All’s well that ends well! The General gives his blessing and they get married.
Isabella was only pretending to love James Morland because she thought he was rich. When she found out he wasn’t, she dumped him for Capt. Tilney, Henry’s brother. However, General Tilney would never have his children marry beneath them so Isabella didn’t have a chance. When Capt. Tilney dumped, her, she wrote to Catherine, begging her to ask her brother to renew their engagement. Despicable woman! Catherine saw through her then.
I don’t know how to describe Jane Austen; her books seem to be so trivial but they are so good!