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James Kinsley
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Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon: WITH Lady Susan Pocket Book – 1 July 2008

by Austen (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 160 ratings
Edition: New
'...in suspecting General Tilney of either murdering or shutting up his wife, she had scarcely sinned against his character, or magnified his cruelty.'Northanger Abbey is about the misadventures of Catherine Morland, young, ingenuous, and mettlesome, and an indefatigable reader of gothic novels. Their romantic excess and dark overstatement feed her imagination, as tyrannical fathers and diabolical villains work their evil on forlorn heroines in isolated settings. What could be more remote from the uneventful securities of life in the midland counties of England? Yet as Austen brilliantly contrasts fiction with reality, ordinary life takes a more sinister turn, and edginess and circumspection are reaffirmed alongside comedy and literary burlesque.Also including Austen's other short fictions, Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sanditon, this valuable new edition examines the ambitious and innovative works with which she inaugurated as well as closed her career.Find the eBook on VitalSource.FeaturesThe best-value edition, combining Northanger Abbey with three minor works, two early, one late, showing her originality across the full range of her career.New introduction by Claudia L. Johnson reassesses received opinion about Northanger Abbey at the level of style as well as theme, and addresses recent critics as well as long established ones. Integrates for the first time the shorter, less-discussed works into the argument.Reset text has crisper appearance.New, up-to-date bibliography, and new chronology by General Editor Vivien Jones (University of Leeds).New and extensive notes in particular draw attention to the many subtle parodies of the Gothic genre.Appendices on social rank and dancing further contextualize the works.ABOUT THE SERIESFor over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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  1. ISBN-10
    019953554X
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199535545
  3. Edition
    New
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press UK
  5. Publication date
    1 July 2008
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    19.3 x 1.42 x 13.16 cm
  8. Print length
    432 pages
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Product description

From the Publisher

Claudia L. Johnson, Professor of English at Princeton University, Edited by John Davie, formerly Principal Lecturer in English, Nottingham Trent University, and James Kinsley

About the Author

Claudia L. Johnson, Professor of English at Princeton University, Edited by John Davie, formerly Principal Lecturer in English, Nottingham Trent University, and James Kinsley

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press UK
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 July 2008
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ New
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019953554X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199535545
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 kg
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.3 x 1.42 x 13.16 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 160 ratings

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James Kinsley

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  • Almudena
    5.0 out of 5 stars Me gustó
    Reviewed in Spain on 20 January 2024
    Format: Pocket BookVerified Purchase
    Estudio filología inglesa, y en una asignatura tuve que leer Northanger Abbey. Empecé a leerla porque tenía que hacerlo, pero he de decir que me enganchó
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  • Didier
    5.0 out of 5 stars Austen goes gothic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 September 2013
    Format: Pocket BookVerified Purchase
    Or does she? Well, I found 'Northanger Abbey' to be a strange but fascinating novel, because in fact it's not so much Austen herself who 'goes gothic', but Catherine Morland, the young and innocent heroine of the book. She's an avid reader of gothic novels, Ann Radcliffe being her favorite author, which has so to speak skewed her vision of the real world: surely every chest must contain a skeleton, and why should doors in dark passageways be locked but to hide some awful family secret?

    When Catherine travels to Bath with her parents' friends Mr and Mrs Allen, she meets the charming Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor and is enchanted by both of them. Before long she is invited for a stay at Northanger Abbey, the Tilney residence, where she meets Henry's father, General Tilney, who despite his impeccable manners, turns out to be a rather daunting figure. And how did his wife come to die? Catherine is determined to find out...

    As I said, this is a fascinating book, in which Austen explores the contrast between fiction (tyrannical fathers murdering their wives) and the real world (the settled, uneventful life of a gentry family), and there is definitely much more to this story than at first meets the eye (much of which, I must confess, I would have missed but for the excellent introduction). And apart from that, it is of course written in the typical, delightful Austen-style, with engaging characters and lots of wit, irony and humour (at times even 'laugh-out-loud').

    This edition also contains 3 shorter pieces of which I read only 'Lady Susan', a delightful epistolary novel about an a-moral, scheming woman. 'The Watsons' and 'Sanditon' I did not read because they are unfinished and were - in Austen's view - not ready for publication. I'm sure both are a real gold mine for Austen-scholars as evidence of 'Austen at work', but personally I preferred to read only what Austen herself felt ready to be published (and I'm not an Austen-scholar either, just an enthusiastic amateur).

    All in all, I cannot recommend this book warmly enough, just as every other of Austen's novels!
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  • Esteban O.D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Un classique intemporel de la littérature anglaise
    Reviewed in France on 9 February 2025
    Format: Pocket BookVerified Purchase
    📖 Un roman clé de la littérature et de l’émancipation féminine
    Parmi les œuvres de Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey occupe une place singulière. Écrit à la fin du XVIIIe siècle et publié à titre posthume en 1817, ce roman incarne le talent unique d’Austen pour mêler ironie sociale, satire du roman gothique et réflexion sur la condition féminine.
    À une époque où les femmes étaient encore largement limitées par les conventions sociales, Austen et sa sœur Cassandra ont su tracer leur propre chemin, défiant les attentes imposées aux femmes de leur temps. À travers Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen critique subtilement ces contraintes tout en offrant une héroïne à la fois naïve, curieuse et pleine d’esprit. Son regard sur le monde et son évolution résonnent encore aujourd’hui.

    📚 Un roman toujours étudié à l’université
    L’impact de Northanger Abbey dépasse largement son époque. Il est encore étudié aujourd’hui dans les cursus de littérature anglaise, y compris dans ma licence de LLCER Anglais, où il permet d’explorer :
    Les enjeux de l’éducation et de l’émancipation des femmes au XIXe siècle.
    La critique du roman gothique, notamment des œuvres d’Ann Radcliffe.
    Le style unique d’Austen, entre ironie mordante et finesse psychologique.

    🎭 Un roman à découvrir absolument
    Sans révéler l’intrigue, Northanger Abbey suit les aventures de Catherine Morland, une jeune femme passionnée de romans gothiques, qui découvre peu à peu les subtilités de la société et les pièges des illusions romanesques. À travers ses expériences et ses rencontres, elle apprend à distinguer fantasme et réalité, dans une œuvre aussi drôle que critique.

    L’édition Oxford World’s Classics
    📌 Une introduction détaillée pour mieux comprendre le contexte historique et littéraire.
    📌 Des notes explicatives précieuses pour enrichir la lecture.
    📌 Un texte fidèle à la version originale, dans une édition de qualité.
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    Esteban O.D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Un classique intemporel de la littérature anglaise

    Reviewed in France on 9 February 2025
    📖 Un roman clé de la littérature et de l’émancipation féminine
    Parmi les œuvres de Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey occupe une place singulière. Écrit à la fin du XVIIIe siècle et publié à titre posthume en 1817, ce roman incarne le talent unique d’Austen pour mêler ironie sociale, satire du roman gothique et réflexion sur la condition féminine.
    À une époque où les femmes étaient encore largement limitées par les conventions sociales, Austen et sa sœur Cassandra ont su tracer leur propre chemin, défiant les attentes imposées aux femmes de leur temps. À travers Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen critique subtilement ces contraintes tout en offrant une héroïne à la fois naïve, curieuse et pleine d’esprit. Son regard sur le monde et son évolution résonnent encore aujourd’hui.

    📚 Un roman toujours étudié à l’université
    L’impact de Northanger Abbey dépasse largement son époque. Il est encore étudié aujourd’hui dans les cursus de littérature anglaise, y compris dans ma licence de LLCER Anglais, où il permet d’explorer :
    Les enjeux de l’éducation et de l’émancipation des femmes au XIXe siècle.
    La critique du roman gothique, notamment des œuvres d’Ann Radcliffe.
    Le style unique d’Austen, entre ironie mordante et finesse psychologique.

    🎭 Un roman à découvrir absolument
    Sans révéler l’intrigue, Northanger Abbey suit les aventures de Catherine Morland, une jeune femme passionnée de romans gothiques, qui découvre peu à peu les subtilités de la société et les pièges des illusions romanesques. À travers ses expériences et ses rencontres, elle apprend à distinguer fantasme et réalité, dans une œuvre aussi drôle que critique.

    L’édition Oxford World’s Classics
    📌 Une introduction détaillée pour mieux comprendre le contexte historique et littéraire.
    📌 Des notes explicatives précieuses pour enrichir la lecture.
    📌 Un texte fidèle à la version originale, dans une édition de qualité.
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  • Wendy P. Danbury
    5.0 out of 5 stars Austen is brilliant!
    Reviewed in the United States on 18 May 2008
    Verified Purchase
    I have been a Jane Austen fan for years, admiring her subtle, clever humor and sharp observations. I had never read any of the tales contained in this volume -- in fact, I had never heard of three of them -- but I found myself delighted by The Watsons and Sanditon, wishing that Jane Austen had lived to complete these two lively stories.

    I found Northanger Abbey rather tame; in fact, as I finished reading it, I realized that my flat response was based on the fact that the story's main conflicts were not based on romantic tension, but on the inability of the heroine to understand some of the ancillary characters' true motivations. Because there was little doubt of the hero's interest in her, there was little suspense surrounding the eventual "happily ever after" that Austen always provides.

    The big surprise in this small anthology was the complex, fascinating epistolary novel Lady Susan. The title character is a self-serving, self-righteous, manipulative and very attractive widow with a teenage daughter. The plot unfolds through the letters written by Lady Susan and those in her orbit, and I found myself almost gasping at Austen's ability to create a character so believably evil in motivation and action. Most of her villains are either somewhat foolish and bumbling incompetents or nasty, petty characters that help drive the plot, but Lady Susan is central, purposeful and actually vicious - she knows what she's about, and she doesn't hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve her ends. It was a pleasant surprise to find myself genuinely concerned about the young men under Lady Susan's seductive influence, as well as the well-being of her hapless daughter, and to realize that I couldn't guess at how the resolution would be achieved. When Austen steps out of the letter-writing mode to wrap up the story, I found myself slightly disappointed, but she apologizes handsomely for depriving the British postal service of the revenue that her characters' letters had been generating. Amusing, tongue-in-cheek, and probably much less awkward than having each of the various letter-writers send each other congratulatory "All's well that ends well" notes at the conclusion of the story.

    I highly recommend this book, not just for the novelty of reading some lesser-known Austen gems, but also because of the helpful historical and literary notes provided in this Oxford edition.
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  • tutt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good edition.
    Reviewed in Germany on 27 April 2021
    Format: Pocket BookVerified Purchase
    I've read all of JA's novels numerous times and of all of her books Northanger Abbey was my least favorite. I must admit that reading Lucy Worsely's biography of JA changed all that by casting a bright light on the life and times of the author. When read in this context, my old bugbear became a new favorite and I really began to enjoy the novels. The best part of this edition was the inclusion of Lady Susan.... What a revelation! Here one meets the real Ms Austen : observant, brutally outspoken and realistically caustic. Not a hint of sugar-coated romance in sight
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