One of the most
beloved novels in Britain, I
Capture the Castle is not well known on this side
of the pond. Americans, if they know of author Dodie Smith, are more
likely to identify her as the writer of The Hundred and One Dalmatians.
That's too bad, because this is a charming novel.
Seventeen-year-old narrator Cassandra Mortmain wants to be a writer and
is developing her skills in a journal, where she intends "to capture
all our characters and put in conversations." Her family lives in a
ramshackle rented castle. Her father, James, once wrote an influential
book and is now suffering from a severe case of writer's block. Her
bohemian stepmother, Topaz, is an artist's model. Her older sister,
Rose, is beautiful but disheartened by poverty and the lack of
prospects. There are also two younger men in the household: Thomas,
Cassandra and Rose's brother, and Stephen, whose late mother had been
the family maid when they could still afford one. As James spends his
time reading detective novels, his impoverished family is barely
surviving, having even to sell much of the furniture.
Into the picture arrive two American brothers, Simon and Neil Cotton,
whose recently departed British father had owned the castle. That makes
Simon, the heir, the Mortmains' new landlord, and Rose unsubtly pursues
him to escape from poverty. Cassandra's feelings, romantic and
otherwise, bounce between younger and older brother and Stephen, who
adores her. While Rose's romantic life is resolved surprisingly,
Cassandra realizes she needs more wisdom before she can say "I do." But
she and Thomas prove themselves wise in understanding the psychology of
their father, executing a plan to reignite his creative spark.
Cassandra is an endearing narrator — candid, perceptive
beyond her years, and charming. She makes I Capture the Castle appealing
to everyone from teenagers on up.
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