Northanger Abbey follows seventeen-year-old Gothic novel aficionado Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Catherine is in Bath for the first time. There she meets her friends such as Isabella Thorpe, and goes to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother, the rather rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, from her reading of Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, she expects to be dark, ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery. (wikipedia.org)

簡.奧斯丁一七七五年生於英格蘭漢普郡斯蒂汶頓教區長傢，是傢中六個兄弟、兩個姐妹中的小妹，排行第七。這是一個生氣勃勃的和睦傢庭，父親是牛津大學的畢業生。奧斯丁從小就在父親鼓勵下大量閱讀各類書籍，並學習寫作，傢中文學氣氛濃厚。簡？奧斯丁六部長篇小說如下：《理智與情感》（1811年），《傲慢與偏見》（1813年），《曼斯菲爾德莊園》（1814年），《愛瑪》（1816年），《勸導》（1818年），《諾桑覺寺》（1818年）。