Austen's novel is all about a teenager, Catherine Morland, who is invited to stay with some friends at their home, Northanger Abbey. Catherine is a big fan of Gothic tales and imagines that Northanger Abbey will be the sort of spooky, mysterious place that has grabbed her imagination. When it turns out to be kind of dull, Catherine is determined to find some sort of intrigue and becomes convinced that murder has been committed within the family. Yeah, well, she ultimately realizes that her imagination has gone into overdrive—and that there's a big difference between real life and Gothic novels.
Think about the sort of narration does Austen uses in this novel. Does the narrator stay behind the scenes and or do they have a more obvious presence? And does this remain the case throughout the whole novel?
Gothic novels may be Catherine's thing, but there are plenty of other kinds of narrative texts. Imagine that you're reading a book in which the main character is interested in a particular sort of novel (a "whodunit", a spy thriller, swashbuckling adventure, etc.). What sorts of events and plot devices would you expect to find?