Northanger Abbey / Jane Austen

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Reading the evergreen Classics, especially the compelling works of the gifted storyteller Jane Austen, is always an experience of unmatched pleasure, as is the privilege of presenting these treasures. Austen's first full-length novel Northanger Abbey was not publishing when she was alive. Its manuscript (titled Lady Susan) bought by a publisher in 1803 had remained dormant. in a span of little under two centuries, the work has since entertained a vast multitude of her fans, and remains forever in demand.
Set in the fleeting years of the 18th century, this is a tale of a young girl somewhat lacking in heroin-like attributes. Catherine Morland seeks the sophistication of urban town of Bath where she is invited as the guest of friends Allens. There she meets the eccentric General Tilney, son Henry and Eleanor, Henry's sister. The Northanger Abbey is the Tilney home where she imagines numerous gruesome secrets surrounding the general and his exalted house. While Henry is at pains to dispel her suspicions, the general orders her out of Northanger Abbey. She returns home but is followed by Henry. He explains that Tilney Senior, in a delusion of her penniless status, was anxious to keep her away from his son. She acquiesces. The General too eventually gives his blessing to Henry's marriage to Catherine once the truth is revealed and his good humour restored.