Cat Morland is waiting for something to happen in her life. And nothing ever happens in the Piddle Valley, Dorset. So when her wealthy neighbours whisk her up to the Edinburgh Festival, Car finally finds herself at the heart of the action. Whilst practising for the Highland Ball, Cat falls into the arms of young lawyer Henry Tilney and before she knows it she is on her way to stay at his family's Gothic castle. Even the name Northanger Abbey sends shivers up her spine.

Turrets and creaking doors there may be, but in the depths of the Scottish Borders Cat is isolated from the outside world, with no phone signal, no internet and with a family who are not quite as they seem. Is real life about to become more terrifying than the world of her imagination?