by Diana Birchall
Published: 2019
Publisher: White Soup Press
Genre: Historical, Romance, Jane Austen
Paperback: 230
Rating: 4
Goodreads
First sentence(s):
If Catherine Morland was not born to be a heroine, she ended by becoming something very like one.
A happier heroine than Catherine Morland does not exist in England, for she is about to marry her beloved, the handsome, witty Henry Tilney. The night before the wedding, Henry reluctantly tells Catherine and her horrified parents a secret he has dreaded to share - that there is a terrible curse on his family and their home, Northanger Abbey. Henry is a clergyman, educated and rational, and after her year’s engagement Catherine is no longer the silly young girl who delighted in reading “horrid novels”; she has improved in both reading and rationality. This sensible young couple cannot believe curses are real...until a murder at the Abbey triggers events as horrid and Gothic as Jane Austen ever parodied - events that shake the young Tilneys’ certainties, but never their love for each other.
My two-bits:
Curses schmurses. I liked the play with the paranormal and Jane Austen-ish storytelling.
In general, I found this to be a gentle gothic themed story with Austen favorites Catherine and Henry in the starring roles.
There are a couple dark moments that includes a surprising encounter in the woods. And, another surprise at the end of the book made for a "Oh, hmmm" moment.
* review copy courtesy of tour
