Catherine Morland (
Felicity Jones) is fond of reading Gothic novels. When she's invited for a visit to her wealthier neighbors, the Allens, she finally has an adventure of the type she has been reading in novels.
Soon introduced to society, she meets Isabella Thorpe (Carey Mulligan), with whom she becomes the best of friends, and Isabella's brother John (William Beck), a good friend of her own brother, James. She also meets Henry Tilney (J J Feild), a handsome young man from a good family and his sister, Eleanor (Catherine Walker). Invited to visit the Tilney estate, Northanger Abbey, she has thoughts of romance but soon learns that status, class and money are all equally important when it comes to matters of the heart.