Northanger Abbey is this week's Jane Austen film show at the Bluffton Public Library. The show is at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 8. The film showing is part of Bluffton University' Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) and the Friends of the Library.

A discussion of the film will follow its showing.

A brief plot of the story: Northanger Abbey follows seventeen-year-old Gothic novel aficionado Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Catherine is in Bath for the first time. There she meets her friends such as Isabella Thorpe, and goes to balls.

Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother, the rather rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world.

General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, from her reading of Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, she expects to be dark, ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery.

Jane Austen fans are invited to participate in a weekly series of movies at the Bluffton Public Library in March and early April.

Future films on the series

March 15 - Mansfield Park
March 22 - Pride and Prejudice
March 29 - Emma
April 5 - Persuasion