false 31122 41 Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author with a severe case of writer's block. Her family--beautiful sister Rose, brooding father James, ethereal stepmother Topaz--is barely scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on. Bravely making the best of things, Cassandra gets hold of a journal and begins her literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts. She writes, "I have just remarked to Rose that our situation is really rather romantic, two girls in this strange and lonely house. She replied that she saw nothing romantic about being shut up in a crumbling ruin surrounded by a sea of mud."<p> Rose longs for suitors and new tea dresses while Cassandra scorns romance: "I know all about the facts of life. And I don't think much of them." But romantic isolation comes to an end both for the family and for Cassandra's heart when the wealthy, adventurous Cotton family takes over the nearby estate. Cassandra is a witty, pensive, observant heroine, just the right voice for chronicling the perilous cusp of adulthood. Some people have compared <I>I Capture the Castle</I> to the novels of Jane Austen, and it's just as well-plotted and witty. But the Mortmains are more bohemian--as much like the Addams Family as like any of Austen's characters. Dodie Smith, author of <I>101 Dalmations</I>, wrote this novel in 1948. And though the story is set in the 1930s, it still feels fresh, and well deserves its reputation as a modern classic. <I>--Maria Dolan</I> 950769 1948 I Capture the Castle total:7916|5:2778|4:3119|3:1588|2:357|1:74| 7916 31918 11472 1545 5 15 false true Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 08 20:09:36 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 20:41:40 -0800 2008 I Capture the Castle is a charming and surprising read. I was enchanted by the first paragraph, but never did I imagine that it would be the sort of book that left me speechless at the end--in awe and contemplative and wanting to read more but knowing that anything else I picked up ju...more...]]> 5 19 false false Tue Sep 04 18:39:21 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 18:50:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 14 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Jul 14 06:10:55 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 06:48:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 12 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Jun 20 18:23:04 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 21 19:51:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 8 false false Mon Nov 19 08:40:37 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 19 08:40:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 4 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sun Apr 29 06:29:21 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 29 06:46:45 -0700 2007
During that first reading I thought the whole romance/love pl...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 24 17:45:39 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 17:46:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 21:21:32 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 19:07:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 6 false true Tue Oct 14 08:22:21 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 08:22:21 -0700 2008
here is the delightful:  
-images of the english countryside and the crumbling, fantastic castle
-cassandra's optimism and intelligence (pre-simon)
-perfect descriptions of peaceful, contemplative moments ...more...]]> 5 4 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Jul 28 10:26:55 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 28 10:26:55 -0700 2008
As I flip through...more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon May 26 08:37:16 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 08:40:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 14:35:05 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 20 16:42:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 27 07:56:38 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 15 15:57:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 07 22:23:14 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 16:50:09 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:39:49 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 06:47:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sat Nov 17 13:05:47 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 17 13:06:20 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 3 false false Sun Oct 19 14:53:25 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 26 13:17:47 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 14:53:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 true false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 17:55:56 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 18:05:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Feb 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 13:41:28 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 06:31:34 -0800 2009 4 4 false false Fri Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 30 06:04:45 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 07 14:34:29 -0800 2008 1