L'abbazia di Northanger

by Jane Austen

336 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2025

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vantaggi di un'innata stupidità, in una bella ragazza sono già stati descritti dall'ottima penna di una collega; - e alla sua analisi dell'argomento aggiungerò solo, per rendere giustizia gli uomini, che sebbene la maggior parte di loro, i più superficiali, pensi che l'imbecillità di una donna serva, a mettere risalto per contrasto, il loro fascino personale, ve ne sono alcuni che hanno troppo buon senso e troppa cultura per desiderare in una donna nulla più dell'ignoranza.

[Metis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forse ingannata dalla quarta di copertina, mi aspettavo una storia del tutto costruita sulla parodia del romanzo, motivo per cui la prima parte ha rappresentato una delusione e la seconda una felice scoperta. Anche per quanto riguarda il ritmo della narrazione ho trovato una certa disparità tra le due metà del romanzo: la prima lenta e ripetitiva, la seconda più scorrevole.