This line between “literary” and “genre” fiction is still a hard-fought one today. Gothic novels were the genre fiction of Austen’s time, and the original Northanger Abbey can be read as both a gentle satire of them and a defense of reading for pleasure. But now we live in a world where relaying information takes moments. In Austen, quite a lot of narrative tension comes from the length of time it takes letters to get from one place to another.

Northanger made a perfect addition to them. It also had the additional benefit of being close to the Scottish Borders where there is a cluster of medieval abbeys. I know the city well at this time of year and it's a hothouse of socialising and networking. The city's population doubles then because of the festivals-the official Edinburgh International Festival, the hundreds of Festival Fringe shows, the Book Festival, the Television Festival and the military splendour of the Tattoo. Edinburgh in August was the perfect answer. I needed to find somewhere to move it to that was rich in atmosphere but which also provided a reason for people to migrate there for a decent length of time. I knew from the start I'd have to move the book's setting because nobody goes to Bath for the season any more. Not easy, obvs.Ĭhanging the setting from Bath to Edinburgh definitely adds some atmosphere and ties in with the Gothic theme of the story-did you have another reason for choosing it as the setting? I had to find a way plausibly to hold up certain communications and to incorporate texting, messaging and emailing into the story. The most difficult aspect of the book to modernise was the communication.

What aspect of the book did you find most difficult to modernize? And my initial reaction was that the only aspect of the book I wanted to change was to give Catherine Morland a bit more gumption. The first thing I did was to reread the book, which I hadn't done for probably 20 years. I approached this project with a considerable amount of trepidation! To be invited to reimagine the work of a writer of Jane Austen's stature and popularity was quite unnerving. How did you approach this project? Was there anything about the original Northanger Abbey that you were particularly eager to change? We asked McDermid (best known for writing 'Tartan noir' mysteries) a few questions about the challenges of bringing the book's young characters into the 21st century. Scottish author Val McDermid was tapped to re-imagine Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey as part of the Austen project.

Northanger abbey by val mcdermid