In 'Northanger Abbey', what is the name of the Tilney family home?

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In Northanger Abbey, the Tilney family home is called Northanger Abbey.

Catherine Morland is invited to stay there by Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor. The house belongs to General Tilney, Henry's father, and becomes the main setting for the novel's playful engagement with Gothic fiction. Catherine expects a gloomy, mysterious building because of the sensational novels she enjoys, but Northanger Abbey proves to be a comfortable and largely ordinary country residence.

A particularly memorable episode involves a suite of rooms that Catherine imagines may conceal a terrible secret. Her imagination leads her to suspect that General Tilney harmed or imprisoned his late wife. Henry eventually exposes the absurdity of these suspicions, showing how Catherine has allowed Gothic conventions to distort her reading of everyday reality.

The name can be confused with other famous Austen estates. Pemberley belongs to Pride and Prejudice, Donwell Abbey to Emma, and Kellynch Hall to the Elliot family in Persuasion. Northanger Abbey was published posthumously in December 1817 with Persuasion, although its title page was dated 1818.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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