Northanger Abbey (The Great Classics Library)

"Northanger Abbey" parodies the Gothic novel - sometimes gleefully:"No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine;" "This is strange indeed! I did not expect such a sight as this! An immense heavy chest! What can it hold? Why should it be placed here? Pushed back too, as if meant to be out of sight! I will look into it - cost me what it may, I will look into it - and directly too - by daylight. If I stay till evening my candle may go out." It also explicitly references actual Gothic novels such as "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Italian" by Ann Radcliffe.

It has been described as being the least like Austen's other novels. But it is full of the wry humor and observation found not only in Austen's novels, but all through her letters.