The Heiress of Northanger Abbey
This enjoyable sequel to Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey takes place in 1820, twenty-two years after the events of Austen’s original. Catherine Morland is now almost forty, happily married to Henry Tilney, and the mother of two daughters, Phoebe and Susan. Henry’s father has died, and his older brother Frederick now owns Northanger Abbey. Seventeen-year-old Phoebe accompanies Frederick and his wife, a childless couple, to Bath. Catherine learns that Phoebe may be named heiress of Northanger Abbey, which means that Phoebe could become prey to a fortune hunter. When Catherine reads a letter that indicates Phoebe has fallen into the clutches of the scheming Thorpe siblings, John and Isabella, she and Henry travel to Bath to warn Phoebe about them. They discover that Phoebe has made friends with Isabella’s daughter and has been invited to Isabella’s home, a Gothic house on Dartmoor. Catherine senses her daughter is in danger and accompanies her. Is the danger real, or is Catherine letting her imagination get the better of her?
This is a suspenseful novel in the Gothic tradition, and readers can enjoy it on its own, even though it helps to have read Northanger Abbey first. To readers of Austen’s novel, this feels like a visit with old friends, many years later. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot and was never sure whether the events that frightened Catherine, involving a sinister nobleman and family secrets, and including a possible murder, were real or not until the end. I especially loved Bilyeau’s descriptions of Dartmoor. Bilyeau does not attempt to write in Austen’s style, which I didn’t mind, since, in my opinion, many efforts to imitate Austen have fallen flat. This is a well-written, first-person narrative from Catherine’s point of view. I recommend it for fans of Austen and Gothic novels.
