Which Jane Austen Novel Makes Fun Of Gothic Romances?

"Northanger Abbey" which may be the earliest of Jane Austen's finished books, was sent to a publisher in 1803 when the fashion for the Gothic novel was at its height, but not published until 1818, after her death. The novel mocks the craze for lurid, melodramatic fiction, with skeletons (literally) bursting out of cupboards, chaste heroines being abducted and inconvenient spouses casually murdered. Its main character, Catherine Morland, is "in training for a heroine," devours Gothic romances such as "The Mysteries of Udolpho" (1794) and is constantly looking for real-life crimes and mysteries. The absurdity of the Gothic imagination is underlined when Catherine is staying at Northanger Abbey, a gloomy mansion with a terrifying owner. She becomes convinced that General Tilney murdered his wife, and goes to great lengths to uncover an incriminating document – which turns out to be laundry bill.
The real joke is that the General turns out to be almost as unpleasant as he appears in Catherine's fevered imagination; just less spectacular.

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