Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid is a modernized adaptation of Jane Austen’s only gothic romance of the same title.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It had the same essence that Austen’s novel had and I still liked and disliked the characters I feel like are meant to fit into those categories.
Things I Did Not Like: Catherine Morland being a fan of Twilight. I am by no stretch of the imagination am I a fan of that saga. The fact that that series is how the author chose to portray the heroine’s interest in Gothic lit irked me. To me, it impacted the credibility of Cat’s character. I found it to be a bit more difficult to believe that Catherine would go to such lengths of the imagination based on the novels she read. There wasn’t anything that really stretched the imagination to the conclusions she came to. I wasn’t really a fan of how James Morland still had to go seek the blessing of his parents (shouldn’t that have been taken care of before you propose? I don’t know). I think there still should have been something to help create the opportunity for Captain Tilney to “steal” Isabella’s “heart” (like she ever had one…seriously), but I think it could have been achieved through a more modern thing - like business or something.
Things I Did Like: I found Captain Tilney to be likable. His description - “…Henry in an Iron Man suit” (McDermid 172) - was fantastic! It really characterizes this character in the modern day. I really liked how easy it was to absolutely despise Isabella and John Thorpe. Sure, it was presented a little to easily, but I enjoyed hating those two. I liked the intelligence of Cat in this novel. There were moments where she seemed very Lizzie Bennet. I really liked that aspect of her. It helped me fall in love and identify with the character that much more - which is awesome!