It's fairly typical Austen: love-sick girls, balls, fancy parties, rich and upper middle class tension, marriage as a vocation, etc. Although I don't think Austen can be boiled down to all that and her themes are generally much deeper, this book only seemed to have the elements without the themes.
Maybe I'm missing something.
Young Catherine Morland has few prospects in her home town. When asked by a wealthy couple to join them in a six-week trip to Bath, she jumps at the chance. Initially failing to establish much of a social life, she eventually falls in with a group of young people in the Thorp family who promise excitement. They turn out to be false friends and almost lead to her undoing, Thankfully, another family is there in the background to swoop in and rescue poor Catherine from the clutches of this shallow group.
Despite Catherine's immaturity and grand romantic dreams, she is welcomed by the Tilneys and invited to join them at their home, Northanger Abbey. Catherine is enraptured at the thought of spending time in an old Abbey, with it's promise of ghosts and intrigue. She is disappointed to discover an ordinary, loving family. She almost loses all of them when the Thorp family's misdeeds link unfavorably back to Catherine. But good wins out. Catherine marries Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor becomes Catherine's new sister.
The book is full of exaggerated characters and scenes. I know Austen was trying to make a parody of the day's gothic novels, but not having that context, just made it seem like a bad romance. I wouldn't say it's a "must read." Perhaps that reflects poorly on me.
