In The Secret of the Cluster, we can get to know Jane Austen from a new side. In her novel published after her death, the (self)ironic Austen shows herself with great expressive power and in a very entertaining form.

As in all her novels, the writer depicts the journey of a young girl, Catherine Morland, whom she presents as an "anti-heroine" from the beginning. Catherine, who grew up in a poor priest's family with many children, cannot boast of any special qualities, neither charming, nor talented or optimistic, but she is a great admirer of the "gothic" horror novels of the time. She also looks at her life as if she were the heroine of a novel, reading her own future on the pages of twisty novels. However, the future does not hold for him a carriage accident with a fortunate outcome, during which the hero who appears out of nowhere saves the lady of his future heart, nor bright ball attendances, nor eternal friendships. The girl's trip to Bath goes without incident, she almost gets lost in the crowd at her first ball, without anyone chivalrously noticing her, and she is the only one who doesn't suspect that her seemingly genuine friendship is just an empty, money-seeking relationship that takes advantage of her naivety.

Although his visit to the Northanger Klastrom glimmers in front of him the possibility of chilling adventures: haunted attic rooms, wax figures that look like corpses, tormented wives locked in underground cells, secret trap doors, but the novel twists and romantic secrets are absent here as well. Catherine's reward is just some life experience, because as she begins to lose her illusions and begin to understand real life, she slowly recovers from her romantic shenanigans and becomes a true Austen heroine: she gains self-knowledge. Even a decent suitor appears, on whose side Catherine can then open a new chapter in a now less dreamy-scary story: in her own everyday life.