Jane Austen was not born a global icon. It took years for her to break into print. Her first publication came after almost a decade of ups and downs, and her first novel out was not the first she sent to a publisher. Up to a point, lovers of Jane Austen probably know the publication history of Northanger Abbey—written first, published last. Austen wrote and revised the novel early, tried to get it published, then wrote all her other novels and ended up having Northanger Abbey come out with Persuasion, her last finished work. What we don’t know would fill a book—this book. The objective is to make her early publishing history clear, bringing to light information and original sources not drawn upon before. Beyond her lifetime, clarifying her publishing history also sheds light on an under-regarded novel. The early novel first titled Susan, then Catherine, then Northanger Abbey has sometimes been dismissed by critics, but it was never unimportant to Jane Austen herself. Publishing “Northanger Abbey”: Jane Austen and the Writing Profession is for all lovers of Jane Austen, in and out of universities, libraries, and fan clubs, including readers now staying home with their favorite novelists during the pandemic.

"First published in Great Britain in 2014 by The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers"-- Title page verso.

Jane Austen was not born a global icon. It took years for her to break into print. Her first publication came after almost a decade of ups and downs, and her first novel out was not the first she sent to a publisher. Up to a point, lovers of Jane Austen probably know the publication history of Northanger Abbey-written first, published last. Austen wrote and revised the novel early, tried to get it published, then wrote all her other novels and ended up having Northanger Abbey come out with Persuasion, her last finished work. What we don't know would fill a book-this book. The objective is to make her early publishing history clear, bringing to light information and original sources not drawn upon before. Beyond her lifetime, clarifying her publishing history also sheds light on an under-regarded novel. The early novel first titled Susan, then Catherine, then Northanger Abbey has sometimes been dismissed by critics, but it was never unimportant to Jane Austen herself.Publishing "Northanger Abbey": Jane Austen and the Writing Profession is for all lovers of Jane Austen, in and out of universities, libraries, and fan clubs, including readers now staying home with their favorite novelists during the pandemic.

First accepted by a publisher in 1803, Northanger Abbey was eventually published posthumously in 1818. In it Austen weaves a romance full of suspense and comedy around the heroine Catherine Morland”s first foray into society. The style of the novel is a unique hybrid; along the way Austen parodies the eighteenth-century novel of manners, the Gothic novel, and even the educational treatises of the time. The second Broadview edition includes a revised introduction, notes, bibliography, and expanded appendices of background contextual materials.

From the editor of the popular Annotated Pride and Prejudice comes an annotated edition of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey that makes her lighthearted satire of the gothic novel an even more satisfying read. Here is the complete text of the novel with more than 1,200 annotations on facing pages, including: -Explanations of historical context -Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writings -Definitions and clarifications -Literary comments and analysis -Maps of places in the novel -An introduction, bibliography, and detailed chronology of events -225 informative illustrations Filled with fascinating details about the characters’ clothing, furniture, and carriages, and illuminating background information on everything from the vogue for all things medieval to the opportunities for socializing in the popular resort town of Bath, David M. Shapard’s Annotated Northanger Abbey brings Austen’s world into richer focus.

'A sublime piece of literary detective work that shows us once and for all how to be precisely the sort of reader that Austen deserves.' Caroline Criado-Perez, Guardian Almost everything we think we know about Jane Austen is wrong. Her novels don't confine themselves to grand houses and they were not written just for readers' enjoyment. She writes about serious subjects and her books are deeply subversive. We just don't read her properly - we haven't been reading her properly for 200 years. Jane Austen, The Secret Radical puts that right. In her first, brilliantly original book, Austen expert Helena Kelly introduces the reader to a passionate woman living in an age of revolution; to a writer who used what was regarded as the lightest of literary genres, the novel, to grapple with the weightiest of subjects – feminism, slavery, abuse, the treatment of the poor, the power of the Church, even evolution – at a time, and in a place, when to write about such things directly was seen as akin to treason. Uncovering a radical, spirited and political engaged Austen, Jane Austen, The Secret Radical will encourage you to read Jane, all over again.