Whereas
Pride and Prejudice,
Sense and Sensibility, and
Emma are swathed in petticoat layer upon layer's worth of love and relationship intrigue, by comparison
Northanger Abbey wears but a thin veil. The satirical jabs are still present and as enjoyable as usual, but there is a lack of depth to the characters, their exchanges and the plot density expected in an Austen novel. Add in its gothic elements and it becomes Bronte-esque...eeewwww! But that is no doubt the point, this being Austen's attempt to satirize the genre. If a writer wishes to create an exercise purely in jest, that is their business. However, flat characters and un-enthralling plots are still going to bore the reader.
