The Bride of Northanger by Diana Birchall

-->

I blogged the other day about seeing a fabulous stage performance of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, the brilliant sequel to Pride & Prejudice written by Gunderson and Meldoc. I’m back today with a rave review of another recent, high quality work of Austen-inspired fiction, The Bride of Northanger, by my great friend, Diana Birchall.

This will be the first of two posts by me about Diana’s novel, because I will be writing a second report a few weeks from now, which will be replete with major spoilers for the deft and satisfying plot twists that Diana so expertly unfolds for the reader’s delight in the final chapters.

What I wish to say today that is no spoiler for anyone familiar with Diana’s writing style, is that this is perhaps Diana’s best work so far (and I loved her In Defense of Mrs. Elton pastiche from two decades  ago when I first met her virtually in the Janeites group). Diana, like Gunderson and Meldoc, perfectly understands that it would be a fool’s errand to try to mimic Austen’s unique style – instead, Diana has reached a high level of expertise in her own unique, witty way of turning phrases, building and lowering tension, and bringing a smile on every page. Inspired by Austen perfectly described what Diana does, and that is a wonderful thing, that is rarely done as well as she does it.

Bride picks up shortly after the end of the action of Northanger Abbey, and the primary focus, as you would hope and expect, is on the early married life of Catherine and Henry, as Diana imagines it. But this is no domestic melodrama – very quickly, the action takes a decidedly Gothic turn, and then keeps us in suspense every step of the way thereafter, as to how it will turn out – but it never gets lost in the Gothic, it’s always about character.

I particularly love that Diana gives us a Catherine who is not just moral and good, but also smart and steadily growing in life wisdom. She also brings in most of the other main players from Northanger Abbey, and each one gets a chance to show us who they are – with no punches pulled for certain of them, as you could imagine.

What I will address in my followup post before the end of January, which will, as indicated above, contain major spoilers, are the several literary and historical allusions which Diana deftly inserts beneath the surface of the action, which those who follow me know is the stuff I love most about Austen. Lots of food for thought beneath Diana’s elegant, delightful prose.

I do not hesitate to recommend The Bride of Northanger to anyone who enjoys high quality Austen-inspired fiction by an experienced purveyor of such goodness at the top of her game! So head over to Amazon.com and get your copy now! Then return here in a few weeks, and see if you saw some of the same stuff I did!

Cheers, ARNIE

@JaneAustenCode on Twitter