The Ghosts of Northanger Hall

An Introduction of Sorts

Hi all! If you were a long-time reader of First Impressions, welcome back! I'm elated to have you here. And if you're a new reader who also loves Northanger Abbey, welcome! I hope you enjoy and I appreciate you jumping in!

While my First Impressions novel began as a spur-of-the-moment pandemic project, I've actually spent a couple years thinking about how I wanted to write The Ghost of Northanger Hall. (The first two lines were written in my notes app in December 2021!) The modernization itself was relatively straightforward, but some of the characterization was not. I've taken a few more liberties with them than I did in First Impressions and I hope none of it is too jarring.

When I first began this project, I knew I wanted to create a more personalized writing experience for myself than what I would consider a more standard jump into modernizing Pride and Prejudice. For many years, Northanger Abbey was my second favorite Austen novel (as nothing will ever usurp Pride and Prejudice, and hasn't in a good 15 years) but one instance has always stood out as a blot on the reading experience.

However. Northanger Abbey is, to my knowledge, the only Austen novel to feature elements of explicit antisemitism. In chapter nine, John Thorpe makes the statement, "Old Allen is as rich as a Jew—is he not?" Similarly, the phrase is repeated again in chapter twelve, in reference this time to General Tilney and the Tilney family wealth. 

 This is a vulgar sentence for several reasons, both in the modern sense and against the sensibilities of Austen's contemporary readers. Not only is this a broad reference to the antisemitic stereotype that all Jewish people are wealthy, it is also a comment on the income of a man not well-known to Thorpe. As we all remember in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet's constant discussion of Bingley and Darcy's wealth was the height of vulgarity. Thorpe's comments were to be taken as a strike against his character, not the Allens', but that does not necessarily diminish the emotional jolt felt at reading these sentiments, even 200-odd-years post publication.

Choosing to make the Morland family Jewish was not an easy decision for me, and one I admittedly waffled on for quite a long time. In the end, I decided to go through with it both as an act of ownership for myself over the story, and to to work in dialogue with the John Thorpe antisemitism in the original text. However, I would say the main cause of my hesitation is that ghosts are not a primary element of Judaism, and the "ghosts" of popular culture—and those featured in this story—are of the more theologically Christian persuasion. Ghosts of popular culture just don't match up, at least in my eyes, to the Jewish concepts of the soul and what occurs post-death.

However, like all cultures, Judaism is not a monolith! I chose to give Mr. Morland my voice in certain scenes, questioning the overlap of these two systems of belief, but Catherine's (Katie's) view is equally presentable in modern Judaism. While I personally feel a certain way about Jews and modern ghosts, this is in no way to say there are others who don't feel differently! (And, as an added disclaimer, I feel like I need to add that none of these feelings stop me from exclaiming, "It's the ghost!" whenever something unexpectedly and without apparent cause falls over in my home. Or when the door locks won't turn. Or when there is a weird noise... For someone who personally doesn't believe in ghosts, I keep saying there are quite a few ghosts in my house!)

While writing some of the early chapters, before I was really decided on religion either way, I came across a number of what I would call "typical" ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who were or are Jewish. One of the one that made the biggest impact on me was the non-fiction book The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale, which featured a secular Jewish paranormal researcher and ghost hunter named Nandor Fodor. He was active primarily in the early- to mid-20th. Who was certainly more skeptical than Katie – I think she could have taken a few notes from him.

In terms of modernizing, all will be revealed in time, but some of my favorite elements I've added are my obligatory LGBTQ+ spice, with a much more central character this time than Anne de Bourgh, and the inclusion of video transcripts. I've done a fair amount of video transcription for oral history records and plenty of screenwriting, so I decided to merge the standard transcript formatting and screenplays to give what I hope is a very readable series of insertion chapters.

One of the largest non-narrative departures I made was with Katie's physical appearance. As described in the book, she, "had a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without color, dark lank hair, and strong features—so much for her person; and not less unpropitious for heroism seemed her mind." (Northanger Abbey, chapter 1) This is, for the time, quite opposed to conventional beauty, which tended towards the Grecian and classical images of beauty. In light of this, rather than following her original appearance, I decided to consider both the beauty standards of current time and, rather than Gothic novels being the object of obsession, the appearances of female main characters in horror movies and YA paranormal romance novels.

With this in mind, I chose to give Katie red curls, a mid-sized body, freckles, and more ruddy cheeks/skin, which I think would generally not be considered the first thought when asked for beauty standards today. The only thing I kept unchanged was the strong facial features. I know many people feel self-conscious about the size of their features, especially noses, so I don't plan to dwell too heavily on the topic. Regardless of physical appearance, Katie will get her very own paranormal (ish) romance, and so can you!

As for setting, rather than sending Katie and the Allens to Bath, they visit a town loosely inspired by Lenox, Stockbridge, and Great Barrington, Massachusetts, while Northanger Abbey/Northanger Hall is inspired by elements of each the Codman Estate, Ventford Hall, and the Mount, the home of Edith Wharton, all also in Massachusetts, if you'd like to take a glance at their real-life counterparts. 

Despite the content warnings I listed in the story description, I do genuinely intend for this to be a lighthearted story, but I don't want anyone coming in blind to plot-important possible triggers! It's very important to me that this is a safe and enjoyable reading experience for all people. In my non-Austen reading life, I read quite a bit of horror, which I find generally to have very conscientious readers who are diligent about listing CWs, while many contemporary books I read don't have such a substantial list. But I think being overly cautious is always better than surprising the reader with something they may find painful.