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I’ve never been a fan of Jane Austin; I tried to read Pride & Prejudice a few years back and couldn’t get past the first few chapters. But she’s one of those authors that readers rave about so when I found out that Austenprose was hosting a Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey read along group I decided to give it a go!

I settled down with the first three chapters this afternoon and found myself intrigued by Catherine - the heroine of the tale. Austen’s prose has captured my interest and so far it doesn’t feel like a ’stuffy old classic’, instead it’s quite humorous.

I’m looking forward to reading the next few chapters ready for the discussion on Tuesday, and when I’m finished I might even track down a copy of the ITV adaptation.

Here’s the promo:

“but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?”

Welcome, and get ready to Go Gothic with Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. Please join us as we investigate the humour, romance, and spooky undertones in Jane Austen’s novel Northanger Abbey, a parody on the Gothic fiction that was so popular within her lifetime. Included will be a group read of Northanger Abbey, guest bloggers, discussion on the 7 novels included in the famous Northanger Cannon, and plenty of great giveaways.
Go Gothic. You’ll never regret it!

Fancy joining in the fun? Here’s the reading schedule - the first three chapters are relatively short so there’s still time to get stuck in:

THUR Oct 02 Chapters 1-3
TUES Oct 07 Chapters 4-7
THUR Oct 09 Chapters 8-10
TUES Oct 14 Chapters 11-14
THUR Oct 16 Chapters 15-17
TUES Oct 21 Chapters 18-21
THURS Oct 23 Chapters 22-24
TUES Oct 28 Chapters 25-28
THURS Oct 30 Chapters 29-31

You don’t have to rush out and buy a copy either - you can read it online here or if you have an iPhone you can download it using the free Stanza application (which is how I’m reading it.)

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