活潑熱情的凱瑟琳莫蘭自小就對歌德式小說著迷，一日她隨鄉紳艾倫夫婦到巴斯度假，結識了社會名流亨利提尼，亨利一表人才，讓正值十七歲的凱瑟琳產生好感一見傾心，因此就接受亨利的邀請到諾桑覺寺作客，然而它的秘密卻叫她害怕，
女主角凱瑟琳因為喜歡看魔幻小說，對充滿魔幻恐怖、內容離奇怪誕的情節尤其敏感，因此對諾桑覺寺的神秘有著無比的想像力，因此陷入如夢幻般的奇遇，使她與真正的現實拉開距離。




　　Macmillan Students’ Novels are intended for those reading major classic novels for the first time and in particular students taking first examinations. Each volume contains the complete text, together with an introduction, a section of plates and explanatory notes. Information on the author is provided, together with background to the novel and detailed comments on the plot, the language used and the literary qualities of the work. Each book has been carefully edited to suit the needs of students taking first examinations.



　　Northanger Abbey was written in 1798 but was not published until 1817, just after Jane Austen’s death. It is one of her most delightful and humorous love stories, in which she makes gentle fun of her heroine’s weakness for popular, melodramatic tales of mystery and sensation. Catherine Morland is introduced to the fashionable world of Bath society, and, as a result of a misunderstanding, she is believed to be a wealthy heiress. The story of her falling in love with the handsome Henry Tilney, and of the complications which occur when his father discovers that she is only one of the ten children of comparatively poor country vicar, is told with delicacy and tenderness.