Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morland, is a tomboy with a wild imagination and a passion for Gothic novels. Family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen, invite Catherine to spend the season in Bath and she readily accepts. At her first ball, Catherine meets and dances with Henry Tilney. Henry's sister Eleanor invites Catherine to stay with her at the Tilney's home, Northanger Abbey. Catherine accepts the invitation with pleasure, although she imagines that the Abbey will be rather like one of the gloomy castles in her books. Catherine is at first welcomed by General Tilney (Henry's father), who believes that Catherine is an heiress. When he realizes that Catherine is not rich, however, he sends her packing. Back at home, Catherine is unhappy, missing Henry and disillusioned about her precious Gothic novels ...