The Bride of Northanger by Diana Birchall

The Bride of Northanger
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.

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* review copy courtesy of tour

Happy Release: The Bride of Northanger by Diana Birchall

The Bride of Northanger
by Diana Birchall
-Historical, Romance, Jane Austen theme | Goodreads
Release date: September 17, 2019
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 ...

About the author:
Diana Birchall worked for many years at Warner Bros studios as a story analyst, reading novels to see if they would make movies. Reading manuscripts went side by side with a restorative and sanity-preserving life in Jane Austen studies and resulted in her writing Austenesque fiction both as homage and attempted investigation of the secrets of Jane Austen's style. She is the author of In Defense of Mrs. Elton, Mrs. Elton in America, Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma, and the new The Bride of Northanger. She has written hundreds of Austenesque short stories and plays, as well as a biography of her novelist grandmother, and has lectured on her books and staged play readings at places as diverse as Hollywood, Brooklyn, Montreal, Chawton House Library, Alaska, and Yale.

Visit Diana at her Austen Variations:
author page
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
Social Media hashtags: #BrideNorthangerBlogTour, #JaneAusten, #HistoricalFicton, #GothicMystery, #Austenesque

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Doyenne of Austenesque fiction Diana Birchall tours the blogosphere October 28 through November 15 to share her latest release, The Bride of Northanger. Thirty popular book bloggers specializing in historical and Austenesque fiction will feature guest blogs, interviews, excerpts, and book reviews of this acclaimed continuation of Jane Austen’s Gothic parody, Northanger Abbey.

Schedule:

October 28 My Jane Austen Book Club (Interview)
October 28 Austenprose—A Jane Austen Blog (Review)
October 28 vvb32 Reads (Spotlight)
October 29 A Covent Garden Gilflurt’s Guide of Life (Guest Blog)
October 29 From Pemberley to Milton (Excerpt)
October 30 Drunk Austen (Interview)
October 30 Silver Petticoat Review (Excerpt)
October 31 Jane Austen’s World (Review)
November 01 So Little Time… (Interview)
November 01 Laura's Reviews (Review)
November 04 English Historical Fiction Authors (Guest Blog)
November 04 Confessions of a Book Addict (Spotlight)
November 05 More Agreeably Engaged (Review)
November 05 Vesper’s Place (Review)
November 06 Jane Austen in Vermont (Interview)
November 06 Diary of an Eccentric (Interview)
November 07 All Things Austen (Spotlight)
November 07 A Bookish Way of Life (Review)
November 07 Let Them Read Books (Excerpt)
November 08 Babblings of a Bookworm (Review)
November 08 vvb32 Reads (Review)
November 11 My Jane Austen Book Club (Review)
November 11 Reading the Past (Spotlight)
November 12 Jane Austen’s World (Interview)
November 12 The Calico Critic (Excerpt)
November 13 The Book Rat (Review)
November 13 Austenesque Reviews (Review)
November 14 Fangs, Wands, & Fairy Dust (Review)
November 14 The Fiction Addict (Review)
November 15 My Love for Jane Austen (Spotlight)
November 15 Scuffed Slippers and Wormy Books (Review)

Lovely Books and Things - 10.13.19

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Listening to Bach Cello Suite 1

2. Viewing artwork online by Marta Minujin for ¡VIVA! Annual Celebration of Latino Hispanic Heritage month - Impressed with her epic Parthenon of Books in Germany and Babel Tower of books in Buenos Aires made with books!

3. Sumo Wrestling exhibition at Japan town

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For Review:

The Bride of Northanger
by Diana Birchall
-Historical, Romance, Jane Austen theme
courtesy of book tour -Thanks! | Goodreads

Review posts theme for this month: I am in a dark funk and will be reading books related to True Crime, Hunger, Horror, or Harassment.


Library:

We were treated to hearing from so many wonderful authors at the 5th Filipino American International Book Festival (details)

The Dear America: Writing Filipinx Counter Narratives included moderator, Janet Mendoza Stickman and panelist authors, E.J.R. David, Janice Sapigao, Jan-Henry Gray, Juanita Tamayo Lott, Grace Talusan and Jose Antonio Vargas.

I picked up these up...

Bodies of Water
by Yves Lamson
-Folklore, Fantasy, Filipino | Goodreads

The Body Papers: A Memoir
by Grace Talusan
-Memoir, Feminism, Filipino | Goodreads

AND watched: in theatre

To Each Her Own (2018)
Director/Writer: Myriam Aziza
Writers: Olivia Jaudeau (script adaptation), Denyse Rodriguez-Tomé
Stars: Sarah Stern, Jean-Christophe Folly, Julia Piaton

-Drama, LGBTQ, France | imdb | my rating: 4
Simone plans to inform her conservative Jewish family that she's a lesbian, but as she proceeds with coming out she finds herself attracted to a man.

CURIOUS. This is one that has grey areas which is not necessarily a bad thing.

A Journey Through Genders (2019)
Director: Miyuki Tokoi
Stars: Takamasa Kobayashi
-Drama, LGBTQ, Japan | my rating: 5
24-year-old Takamasa Kobayashi has been trying to find his true gender since childhood. Born as a girl, he was one of the first students in Japan to persuade a junior high school to accept a female as a boy. At 20, he underwent surgeries so that he could legally become a man, the youngest case in Japan. But this was just the beginning. Takamasa then discovered that he is not a man either and is now searching beyond gender binaries. We followed Takamasa for 9 years on his journey through gender transformation.

Part of the Japan Film Festival 2019 (here) with a Q&A with director.

INFORMATIVE. Helpful in learning about what goes on in regards to a young person in transition.

Clemency (2019)
Director/Writer: Chinonye Chukwu
Stars: Vernee Watson, Aldis Hodge, Alfre Woodard
-Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.

THOUGHT PROVOKING. Gave perspectives of people involved and affected by an execution.


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