A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen's "Gothic parody." Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist. This Norton Critical Edition is the most extensively annotated student edition available. "Backgrounds" features material carefully chosen to enhance readers’ appreciation of the novel, including biographical commentary, early works and correspondence related to Northanger Abbey, and excerpts by Ann Radcliffe, Frances Burney, and William Wordsworth, among others, tracing Austen’s connection to her Romantic contemporaries. "Criticism" collects thirteen assessments of Northanger Abbey from a wide range of voices and periods, including essays by Margaret Oliphant and Rebecca West and critics Patricia Meyer Spacks, Claudia L. Johnson, Lee Erickson, and Joseph Litvak. This book is paperback and is recommended reading for Hillsdale's free online course, "The Young Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey"
