What is Northanger Abbey about?

It follows Catherine Morland, a young woman who loves spooky novels, as she visits Bath, makes friends and falls in love with Henry Tilney. When she stays at his family’s abbey, her imagination gets her into trouble, and she learns to tell stories apart from real life.

How does Northanger Abbey end?

Henry follows Catherine home to Fullerton and asks her to marry him. After his sister Eleanor marries a viscount and the General learns the Morlands are respectable, he agrees, and Henry and Catherine are married.

What is the moral of Northanger Abbey?

Enjoy stories, but judge real people by what they actually do. The book also shows the difference between true and false friends, and the harm that lies can cause.

What age is Northanger Abbey appropriate for?

The original suits confident readers from about 12 and up. Gentle illustrated retellings bring the story to children ages 6–9.

Who is the main character in Northanger Abbey?

Catherine Morland, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a country clergyman, who loves reading thrilling novels.

How many chapters are in Northanger Abbey?

The novel has 31 chapters, published in two volumes. It came out in December 1817, a few months after Jane Austen’s death.

Northanger Abbey summary for kids

Northanger Abbey is the story of Catherine Morland, a cheerful seventeen-year-old who loves spooky adventure novels. When kind neighbors take her to the busy city of Bath, she makes new friends, goes to balls and meets a witty young man named Henry Tilney. Then she is invited to stay at an ancient abbey, just like the ones in her books. Jane Austen’s funny, warm novel still delights readers because Catherine is so honest and eager, and because it gently pokes fun at how stories can run away with our imaginations.

Written by: Jane Austen, 1817
Setting: The city of Bath, Northanger Abbey in Gloucestershire and the village of Fullerton in Wiltshire, England, around 1800
The original novel: 31 chapters in two volumes
Our retelling: Ages 6–9, an illustration on every page

The story, from beginning to end

Spoiler alert: this summary tells the whole story, including the ending.

A Most Unlikely Heroine

Catherine Morland is one of ten children of a country clergyman in the village of Fullerton. As a small girl she is noisy and plain, and she would rather play cricket, roll down hills and climb trees than sew or practice music. By seventeen she has grown pretty, and she has fallen in love with books, especially thrilling novels full of castles, ghosts and brave heroines.

Her neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Allen, a wealthy couple with no children of their own, are going to Bath, the fashionable spa town where people drank the warm waters for their health. Mr. Allen hopes it will help his gout, a painful swelling of the joints, and they invite Catherine to come along for six weeks. At her first ball in the Upper Rooms, though, she knows no one, and Mrs. Allen cares mainly about not crushing her gown.

New Friends in Bath

At the Lower Rooms, the Master of Ceremonies, who arranged introductions at the balls, introduces Catherine to Henry Tilney, a lively young clergyman. He teases her about what she will write in her journal and amazes Mrs. Allen by knowing all about muslin, a fine cotton cloth. Catherine likes him at once, but the next day he seems to have left Bath.

Mrs. Allen then meets an old school friend, Mrs. Thorpe, whose eldest daughter Isabella quickly becomes Catherine’s dearest friend. The girls read The Mysteries of Udolpho, a popular spooky novel, and talk about bonnets and young men. Soon Catherine’s brother James arrives from Oxford with Isabella’s brother John, a loud young man who never stops bragging about his horse and his gig, a light two-wheeled carriage. James is clearly in love with Isabella, and John decides that Catherine admires him.

Broken Promises and a Walk on Beechen Cliff

Henry returns with his quiet sister Eleanor and their father, General Tilney, and Catherine agrees to go walking with the Tilneys. When morning rain delays the walk, John Thorpe tells her he has seen them driving away, so she goes with him on a drive toward Blaize Castle. Moments later she sees Henry and Eleanor walking to her door. She begs John to stop, but he only whips up his horse. Catherine is miserable, and when the Thorpes try to trick her a second time, she runs straight to the Tilneys’ lodgings to explain.

The Tilneys forgive her, and the three walk up Beechen Cliff, a hill above Bath. Henry admits that he loves novels as much as she does, and Eleanor and Catherine become true friends. Meanwhile James and Isabella become engaged. Isabella is less happy when she learns that James will have a modest income and that they must wait two or three years to marry.

An Invitation to the Abbey

General Tilney is suddenly very attentive to Catherine. He praises her, encourages Henry to pay her attention and invites her to stay at Northanger Abbey, the family home. Catherine is thrilled: an abbey is just like the old buildings in her novels. What she does not know is that John Thorpe has boasted to the General that the Morlands are rich and that Catherine will inherit the Allens’ fortune.

Catherine is troubled to see Isabella flirting with Henry’s handsome older brother, Captain Frederick Tilney, even though she is engaged to James. Isabella laughs off Catherine’s worries. Then Catherine sets off with the Tilneys, and on the way Henry teases her with a made-up story about the gloomy rooms, secret doors and old papers she might find at Northanger.

Mysteries at Northanger

Northanger turns out to be comfortable and modern inside, which disappoints Catherine a little. On a stormy night she finds a tall black cabinet in her room. With trembling hands she opens it and discovers a roll of old papers, but her candle goes out before she can read them. In the morning she finds they are only a washing bill, a list of laundry, and she is deeply embarrassed.

Catherine notices that the General is stern and strict, and she learns from Eleanor that Mrs. Tilney died suddenly nine years before. Her imagination runs wild, and she begins to suspect that the General was cruel to his wife, or even shut her away. She creeps into Mrs. Tilney’s old room and finds only a bright, ordinary bedroom. On her way out she meets Henry, who quickly guesses what she has been thinking. Kindly but firmly, he tells her that his mother died of an illness and reminds her to judge by what she has really seen. Catherine is ashamed and resolves to use good sense from now on.

Sad News and a Sudden Storm

A letter from James brings bad news: Isabella has broken their engagement to pursue Captain Tilney. Henry and Eleanor comfort Catherine, and Henry tells her that his brother never means to marry Isabella. Soon Isabella writes, asking Catherine to help her win James back. Catherine finally sees that Isabella was never a true friend. A happier day follows when the General takes Catherine to see Henry’s pretty parsonage at Woodston, dropping hints that it needs a lady to furnish it.

Then the General goes to London for a week. While he is away, the friends are happy together, but one night, with Henry gone to Woodston, the General comes home unexpectedly in a fury. Eleanor, very upset, must tell Catherine that she is to leave early the next morning. She must travel seventy miles home alone, with no servant to look after her. Catherine has no idea what she has done wrong. Eleanor lends her money for the journey, and the friends part in tears.

Home Again and a Happy Ending

Catherine reaches Fullerton safely, and her family welcomes her warmly. She is quiet and low in spirits, and her mother thinks she has simply grown too fond of grand houses. A few days later, Henry arrives. He asks Catherine to marry him and explains everything. John Thorpe had first told the General that Catherine was rich. Later, angry that Catherine had turned him down, John told him the opposite: that the Morlands were poor. The General, who cared only about money, sent Catherine away in a rage.

Henry has stood up to his father and refused to give Catherine up. Catherine’s parents happily agree to the match, but only if the General agrees too. Before long, Eleanor marries the man she loves, who has just become a viscount, a kind of lord. The General is so pleased that he softens, learns that the Morlands are a respectable family after all, and gives his consent. Henry and Catherine are married within a year of their first meeting, the church bells ring, and everybody smiles.

Themes and big ideas

Stories and real life: Catherine loves thrilling novels so much that she expects real life to work the same way. At Northanger, she mistakes a laundry list for a secret document and imagines the General as a villain. The book shows children that stories are wonderful, but we should judge real people by what we actually see.
True and false friends: Isabella Thorpe makes big promises of friendship but thinks mainly of herself, while Eleanor Tilney is quiet and steady and helps Catherine when it matters most. Comparing the two is an easy way to talk with children about what a real friend is like.
Honesty: Catherine is honest even when it is embarrassing, and she runs to the Tilneys to explain a mix-up. John Thorpe, by contrast, tells tall tales and lies that cause a great deal of hurt. The story makes the value of telling the truth very clear.
Growing up: Catherine begins the story eager but easily fooled, and by the end she has learned to think for herself. Making a mistake with the mystery of Mrs. Tilney is painful, but it helps her grow wiser and more confident.
Money and kindness: General Tilney is charming to Catherine only while he thinks she is rich, and cruel once he believes she is poor. Henry loves Catherine for who she is. The contrast helps children see that how we treat people should never depend on money.

Is Northanger Abbey right for my child?

Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen’s lightest and funniest novels, and it has nothing truly frightening in it. The spooky moments, a stormy night, a locked cabinet and a mysterious room, all turn out to be harmless, and the joke is on Catherine’s imagination. Parents should know that Catherine briefly suspects the General of harming his late wife, who died of an illness years before; she is quickly and kindly corrected. There is also a gentle romance, a broken engagement and a sad scene when Catherine is sent home alone.

Our retelling for ages 6–9 keeps the humor, the friendships, the spooky-but-silly abbey scenes and the happy ending, and tells the grown-up parts simply: Catherine’s suspicion is a wild guess she learns from, and the romance is warm and sweet. The original novel suits confident readers from about age 12, and it is a great first Austen for teens because it is short and funny. The retelling is ideal for reading aloud with children ages 6–9.

Questions to talk about

Catherine loved reading spooky stories. What kind of stories do you like best, and why?
Isabella and Eleanor were both Catherine’s friends. Which one was the better friend, and how can you tell?
John Thorpe told Catherine a lie to get her into his carriage. How do you think Catherine felt when she found out?
Catherine thought an old washing bill was a secret message. Have you ever been sure something was a mystery, and it turned out to be ordinary?
Henry told Catherine to judge by what she really saw. Why is it important to check before we decide something is true?
How do you think Catherine felt when she had to travel home all alone?
Henry stood up to his father to do what was right. When have you had to be brave about something?
If you could visit Bath or Northanger Abbey, which would you choose, and what would you do there?

Questions about Northanger Abbey

What is Northanger Abbey about?: It follows Catherine Morland, a young woman who loves spooky novels, as she visits Bath, makes friends and falls in love with Henry Tilney. When she stays at his family’s abbey, her imagination gets her into trouble, and she learns to tell stories apart from real life.
How does Northanger Abbey end?: Henry follows Catherine home to Fullerton and asks her to marry him. After his sister Eleanor marries a viscount and the General learns the Morlands are respectable, he agrees, and Henry and Catherine are married.
What is the moral of Northanger Abbey?: Enjoy stories, but judge real people by what they actually do. The book also shows the difference between true and false friends, and the harm that lies can cause.
What age is Northanger Abbey appropriate for?: The original suits confident readers from about 12 and up. Gentle illustrated retellings bring the story to children ages 6–9.
Who is the main character in Northanger Abbey?: Catherine Morland, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a country clergyman, who loves reading thrilling novels.
How many chapters are in Northanger Abbey?: The novel has 31 chapters, published in two volumes. It came out in December 1817, a few months after Jane Austen’s death.