A review by kberry513
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid

5.0

After having been a bit...disappointed... by the other two Austen Project books I read recently (moreso the P&P one rather than the S&S one), I was hesitant about this one. I felt the S&S retelling stuck a little too closely to the story, although I still enjoyed it quite a bit. The P&P I hate-read. I really loved Northanger Abbey (the original) and so it was with more than a little trepidation that I started this one. I LOVED it; I feel like it kept the spirit of the original quite well and updated it in a way that made it feel modern without removing the silliness and feel of each of the characters. I also thought it was very clever to say the way someone did or might act was what peopled would do "hundreds of years ago", like the way the General ruled his family or the way the Calmans would never hide evidence of a murder because servants that loyal are no longer a thing.

My favorite twist was

Spoiler

that the General wanted Cat to leave not because he found out her family had no money, but because Johnny told him she was a lesbian (because she spurned his advances). Considering the type of man Johnny is, this is exactly the kind of thing modern guys like him do and it makes a lot of sense that an old-school sort like the General would be so horrified by that notion that he would chuck Cat out in the middle of the night.