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Predecessors of Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s father encouraged his daughters to love literature and read widely in his 500-volume library. That love grew through purchases of their own, subscription library memberships, and loans from friends. Jane Austen’s first novel, Northanger Abbey, is proof that readers become writers. Her witty parody of the Gothic novel is itself a defense of novel reading. Here, longtime GCR member, Ronnie Jo Sokol offers an extensive list of Northanger Abbey’s predecessors, including 34 works Austen refers to in Northanger Abbey.
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