★★★★★ Not her best

Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

Of Jane Austen's six novels (I'm not counting Lady Susan or the fragments), there are two that, IMHO, are not as good as the other four. Those two are Mansfield Park and this book, Northanger Abbey. Fanny, the heroine of Mansfield Park is such a drip that it's hard to like her.

Northanger Abbey has a different problem. Austen is always a very funny author, but in Northanger Abbey she set out to be more broadly humorous than in her other books, and she doesn't quite pull it off. Northanger Abbey is in part a satire of other novels of the time, particularly those of Ann Radcliffe, whom Austen refers to as "Mrs Radcliffe". Catherine, the heroine, is a fan of Radcliffe's novels, which are indeed somewhat ridiculous. Austen's joking is good-natured and in my opinion not unkind. And I have to feel that Austen did Radcliffe a favor. I doubt that anyone would still be reading Radcliffe now, if it weren't for her being the butt of some gentle joshing in Northanger Abbey. (For instance, it was only because of Northanger Abbey that I read The Mysteries of Udolfo, which is one of those annoying novels whose plot depends on the characters being too stupid to immediately figure out things that ordinarily perspicacious folks would work out in seconds.)

So, why five stars? Well, it's Jane Austen, for God's sake! Even slightly subpar Austen is so much better than almost any other author that it would be churlish to give her less than five.

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