The Blue Castle

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2017
Category: Romance Classic

L. M. Montgomery wrote mostly children's books, but this book is geared toward adults. It is a hidden gem; a light read, but one with substance. The plotline of the movie, Last Holiday is very similar to this. Valancy Stirling lives with her mother and cousin, who are highly dysfunctional. Her extended family is just as dysfunctional, and they all live in the same town in Canada during the 1920's. At 30, she has been relegated to the status of "old maid". She is told by the Doctor that she has a year to live, tops. Upon hearing this news, she feels free to live and speak as she wants, which shocks her family. She moves out, and eventually, gets married. I won't give the rest away. The beginning of the book was a bit tedious, but it picks up after that. I actually laughed out loud several times!

Valancy is turning 29 years old and is constantly reminded by her family that she is an old maid. She has always been a good, obedient daughter, but hates pretty much everything about her life with her family. She even wears only clothes her mother approves of and an old-fashioned hairstyle approved by her mother. When she receives some news, she finally stands up to her family and does things that she wants to do, just for herself. I really liked this. I liked Valency, though I hated her awful family. I liked some of the other characters, as Valency gets to know them after her rebellion from her family. It’s frustrating, the lack of options for an unmarried woman during this time (the 1920s). It’s slow-moving, but I really enjoyed it.

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery; (3 1/2*)Valency is 29, plain, (so her family says), single and leading a miserable life at home with her mother and a second cousin. She hates her life, her house, her room and the way her family makes her every decision for her. Her mother and cousin dictate every detail of her life and all of the members of her extended family criticize her every move. Then on day she is diagnosed with a terminal heart condition and finds out that she has one year to live. Suddenly she doesn't care what anyone else thinks. She refuses to conform, makes shocking choices, and finds a new life for herself, possibly even including love.I enjoyed this book a great deal once I got about a third of the way through. The first part was an effort for me but I was so glad I stuck it out as the book was well worth that small effort.

I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery was originally published in 1926 and has been reprinted several different times with many different covers. The covers, for the most part, could be divided into two categories - either the portrait of a solitary young woman or a dreamy image of a castle. The latest, published by Tundra Books in 2019, is neither. Rather, it is more metaphoric: a lone bird flying above its reflection in the water that stretches between two distant pieces of distinctly Canadian land. The new cover was designed by Kelly Hill and illustrated by Elly MacKay, a Canadian artist from Ontario. Instead of painting or drawing alone, MacKay works with paper and light to bring her images to life. She creates the illustrations and backgrounds, cuts them out and sets them up in a light theatre to be photographed with special filters and lighting to create a whimsical 3D effect. In the case of The Blue Castle, the cover reached right off of the paper and lured me in to the book (well, had I not been a lifelong L. M. Montgomery devotee). I suspect I'll be looking for more reprints of Montgomery's books as interpreted by MacKay. The story, if you haven't read it, its is a deftly told story from the perspective of the black sheep of a not-quite-rich-enough family. The main character is Valancy, a 29 year old 'spinster' who is fed up with the restricted, meaningless life she lives trapped beneath her mother's thumb. The story follows her as she finds the motivation to escape and live the life she wants, consequences be damned! As a 30 something, nearly 100 years after the books publication, I found it incredibly relatable; the rules are slightly different, but we are still playing the same games.Tundra's fresh reprint combined with MacKay's beautiful cover art breathe yet more life into L. M. Montgomery's books. The story of the Blue Castle is from simpler time, and provides a welcome escape from the fast moving world we live in now. Like many of her stories, it brings unexpected perspective to the daily grind and what constitutes a meaningful, well lived life.

I really enjoyed this book, it's quite different from Anne of Green Gables which L.M. Montgomery is most notably known for but it's still excellent in it's own right. Especially if you're looking for something more adult compared to Anne of Green Gables.

OK - I preface by saying I have loved L.M. Montgomery since my pre-teens. I read all the Anne books (not just the 1st 3) over and over. I read The Blue Castle a little later as a teen. I know it's old-fashioned, and you pretty well know what's going to happen but I still enjoyed it again now. I will say though that I think the stories in The Chronicles of Avonlea, and Further Chronicles of Avonlea are better - but again it has been years since I read these books. I do appreciate Tundra Books re-issuing this - great! How about the Chronicles?

I was so pleased about winning this book in Early Reviewers. The Blue Castle is my favorite stand-alone L.M.Montgomery book (the Emily books are my favorite series).Unlike most of Montgomery's books this is not aimed at young readers - the protagonist is 29 years old. Valancy, known to her family as Doss, is a plain, repressed and disregarded spinster who, in a moment of rebellion born of a stunning diagnosis, takes control of her existence for the first time in her life. The family dinner party where she asserts her liberation and stuns the entire conventional clan is a lovely comic scene.The rest of the book continues her growth, and, most importantly, her relationship with an enimatic hero.The ending is way too coincidental to be even remotely believable yet somehow satisfying in a Cinderella way.

Valancy Stirling has spent her entire twenty-nine years letting her fear of what her family would do determine her every action. However, when Valancy goes to see the doctor about some chest pain and is informed she has only a year to live, she realizes that she wants to truly live in the time she has left. Suddenly she's saying exactly what she thinks and doing precisely what she wants, which turns her whole world upside down in the best of ways.As one would expect of Montgomery, this is an utterly charming tale of finding yourself, your place in the world, and love all at the same time. I had a fair idea of exactly where the plot was going but it reduced none of the charm and Valancy is a lovely heroine once she gets past the self-pity phase. I did find it fascinating that this is the first of Montgomery's works that isn't set in PEI, although her descriptions of the woods in the Muskoka region of Ontario is just as beautiful as any of her prose about wildlife on the island.

A coming-of-age story that is a bit naive in this day and age but insightful for young adults reaching independence. Charmingly witten although dated.

Probably my favorite L.M. Montgomery book. It feels to me like a fairy tale for adults.

I still love Emily, but the hopelessly romantic, yet stubbornly practical Valancy Stirling is now close in the running for my most favorite L.M. Montgomery protagonist. The "twists" in this are predictable, but I adore the lush description and the sharp observation, the quirky characters, and the small-town charm of Montgomery's books and this was no exception. I enjoyed every bit of this sweet story and read almost perpetually with a smile on my face.

Valancy Stirling has been emotionally abused all her life, she is worn down into a shadow of a human, dependant on others (as many women were at the time), dealing with her wants and needs being neglected, she escapes in the works of John Foster, who writes about nature. She sometimes escapes to an imaginary place that is a blue castle.Her life changes when she hears that she has a deadly heart condition and now she only has a short time to live and she decides that she's not going to live her life as it was, she's going to live her life as she wants. This leads her on an adventure that will change her life forever.I really enjoyed it, found it uplifting and hopeful.

Valancy leads a miserable life, scorned and bullied by her unloving extended family. On her 29th birthday she secretly visits a doctor about her heart and learns that she has only a year to live. She decides to spend that year doing nothing she doesn't want to, moves out of her home, gets a job and asks Barney Snaith to marry her.The first half of this book was stronger than the second. I very much enjoyed the chapters where Valancy begins to speak her mind to her family, but once she and Barney got married there were chapters of them living blissfully in communion with nature and I started to skim. Things perked up again at the end though.

At 29, Valancy takes a chance. And another. Leaving her stifling "life" behind wasn't that hard once she got around to doing it. But when two misunderstandings compound into her returning to it, her new(ish) husband must hurry and rescue her before it's too late.

I guess it has been a long time since I read this one. I loved it the first time I read it, Valancy speaks to the heart of my inner rebel who, like her, had no past to speak of on that first reading. Even as I get older, I find it is the things I didn't do, the people I didn't tell to go f*ck themselves, that I regret; not the things I've done and the scars I've gained in the doing, those are a lighter burden.

The book opens to Valancy on her 29th birthday as she considers the blandness of her existence. She slips away from her socially draconian relatives to see a doctor about heart pain, and is told she has a year to live. Despite the somewhat cliched premise, this book manages to be matter of fact, endearing, inspirational and heart rending by turns. It argues that a life lived in fear isn't a life worth living, particularly where obedience to social conventions are concerned.

Valancy is a delightful heroine, and her good-hearted social irreverence continue to comfort me in my anxiety over asserting myself and my needs in a world that would be happier with my submission.

Another great book by L. M. Montgomery that is more grown up than her books set on Prince Edward Island. Years after this book was written Colleen McCullough wrote a book with a similar storyline, The Ladies of Missalonghi.

Read in Sept 2013One of Canadian author, LM Montgomery's adult novels, Blue Castle is uncharacteristically set in Ontario rather than her usual Prince Edward Island. Ms Montgomery's ability to create descriptive settings doesn't suffer for the change. Muskoka sunsets, rises, weather, and woods, all come to life for the reader. As do the characters.We're introduced to the gossiping family of our MC, Valancy, who at 29 is living in the shadow of her mother, cousins, aunts and uncles, who take delight in teasing and tormenting her. As a reader, I was just waiting for her to rise up and defend herself. It happens in a most unusual way with a most clever ingenuity of our author.The book offered interesting info on the 1920's era. Viewpoints, attitudes, clothing styles, speech, vehicles, culture - all well represented - having been published in 1926, within the very time of the book's setting.Another outstanding accomplishment of a favourite Canadian author.

2011 Re-read: Still love this so much! Quite a different mood than Anne, but one of my favorites. I adore the descriptions of the Muskoka woods, and Valancy's development from fearful, meek, downtrodden young woman to strong, passionate, confident woman.

I guess it has been a long time since I read this one. I loved it the first time I read it, Valancy speaks to the heart of my inner rebel who, like her, had no past to speak of on that first reading. Even as I get older, I find it is the things I didn't do, the people I didn't tell to go f*ck themselves, that I regret; not the things I've done and the scars I've gained in the doing, those are a lighter burden.

The book opens to Valancy on her 29th birthday as she considers the blandness of her existence. She slips away from her socially draconian relatives to see a doctor about heart pain, and is told she has a year to live. Despite the somewhat cliched premise, this book manages to be matter of fact, endearing, inspirational and heart rending by turns. It argues that a life lived in fear isn't a life worth living, particularly where obedience to social conventions are concerned.

Valancy is a delightful heroine, and her good-hearted social irreverence continue to comfort me in my anxiety over asserting myself and my needs in a world that would be happier with my submission.

If you have ever felt that life was drab and gray, have secretly longed to rebel against monotonous conformity and stifling convention, or escaped - if only in spirit - to your own private castle in the air, then you will recognize yourself in Valancy Sterling, the heroine of L.M. Montgomery's classic novel, The Blue Castle.Twenty-nine years old and still a spinster, Valancy leads a cheerless existence, bullied by her emotionally distant mother and whiny Cousin Stickles. Hemmed in on all sides: by the poverty of her immediate family, by the restrictive social conventions governing the "respectable" middle class in early twentieth-century Canada, and by the horrible knowledge that she is unloved, unwanted, and unneeded, Valancy is near to the breaking point when fate steps in.Diagnosed with an incurable and fatal heart illness, this quiet young woman decides to put aside fear, live life on her own terms, and seek - for the short time she has left - for her "Blue Castle." Leaving the confines of her mother's house, Valancy takes a job as housekeeper to Roaring Abel, the town drunk, shocking all of Deerwood by taking care of his dying daughter, Cissy Gay, whose unwed motherhood had made her the town pariah.As Valancy steps out from the shadow cast by her unappreciative family, she slowly grows in confidence and sense of self. Her friendship with Barney Snaith - the disreputable young man who roars through town in his loud Grey Slosson, Lady Jane Grey - blossoms into love, and Valancy reaches for her Blue Castle, determined to be happy for at least one season. But will it be enough...?I have read and reread this novel countless times since first discovering it as an adolescent, and it never fails to draw me into its world. With its beautiful depiction of a young woman discovering love and happiness for the first time, its many lovely passages about the wonders of nature, and its humorous send-up of the social conventions of the day, The Blue Castle is the perfect romance. The hero even loves cats!

Valancy Sterling wakes up on the morning of her 29th birthday and realizes that she has nothing to live for. Her life to that point has been one of nearly unendurable monotony: she lives in genteel poverty with her mother and an elderly cousin, looked down on by every member of her extended family because she is an old maid. Her only joy in life is her imaginary "Blue Castle," where she leads a rich fantasy life of adventure and romance. But on this birthday morning, she feels it is time to face reality. One of the ways she does this is by going to see Dr. Trent, a heart specialist, about some pain she has been having. She does this without telling her mother or any of her family, as she dreads the fuss and advice of her family. But Dr. Trent's diagnosis, sent a few days later by mail, turns Valancy's world upside down: she is dying, with perhaps a year to live if she is careful. Valancy is not afraid of death, but she resents the fact that she is dying when she's never really had a chance to live -- so she decides that, for the time she has left, she will do whatever she wants, without worrying about her family's opinions or reactions. She goes to nurse an old school friend who is dying of consumption, even though her friend is the daughter of the town drunk and disgraced for having a child out of wedlock. She befriends the notorious Barney Snaith, a man with a mysterious past and an unconventional present way of life. She buys new clothes, reads whatever she wants, and does whatever she pleases. Her family thinks Valancy has gone mad. And then, Valancy does something even more outrageous: she asks Barney to marry her . . .I don't know how I could objectively review this book; I've read it more times than I can count. I love the characters, the humor, the descriptions of nature, the wacky plot twists at the end of the book that manage to bring everything together. There's definitely romance -- a sort of sweet, unconventional one -- but the story is less about the romance and more about Valancy coming to terms with what she wants from life and bucking the rather ridiculous conventions of her day. This is my favorite Montgomery novel, and I definitely recommend it!

I've always loved LM Montgomery and this book is no exception. I don't know how I missed it as a teen, but I loved it. I loved Valency's spunk and devil-may care attitude. It is kind of like that Tim McGraw song, "Live like you were dieing"

Valency is 29, and totally submissive to her domineering mother and aunt. Then some rather shocking news changes her entire attitude, and she makes several stands for independence. A charming book for teens and adults with a few surprises along the way. A pleasant read.

Ms. Montgomery paints a picture of Valancy's transformation that is charming and romantic. Though the story focuses almost exclusively on the contrast between her former life and the one she dares to reach out for, Valancy's is not the only life that changes. Her genuine love transforms Barney as well, which is even more satisfying. This is the perfect feel good book.

Sorry GR friends who love this book. Intellectually I recognise that some of the writing about the countryside is quite lovely, but in the end it left a bad taste in my mouth. I found it a bit maudlin.

What a fabulous read! I hadn't realized that L.M. Montgomery wrote for an adult audience until one my fellow book clubbers suggested this as our March read. I enjoyed the character development, the outlandish fantasy elements, and the critique on turn-of-the-century society. Well done!

This was a lovely and heartwarming read. The romance was clean, and I liked how the story was executed. Recommended.

Fully as wonderful as Anne of Green Gables. Fun, joyful, serious and ridiculous, in short, satisfying. Great depiction of the absurdities of human nature. Lovely descriptions of natural beauty. Contagious imagination. Thought provoking philosophy. Well written, as is most of L. M. Montgomery's work. In the top ten books making my life richer and happier.

I keep coming back to this book again and again. I reread it at least once a year. When I'm feeling down and depressed I can pick it up, read it cover to cover, and actually feel happy again. It has that power! This is probably my favourite book of all time. A young woman has lived her entire life her a certain way, catering to the opinions of others. Upon finding out she has a year to live, she decides to change her life. The writing is great, very vivid descriptions etc. It's Canadian which I also like. The main character, Valancy, becomes like a friend to the reader. Read this book!!! I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

This was a nice departure for me. The romance was heart-warming without any suggestion of sex. Valancy is 29, homely and her family doesn't expect anything from her except complete submission to their will. When Valancy makes a move for independence by visiting a doctor for her heart troubles, she finds out she will die soon and tosses caution to the wind. Valancy moves out of her mother's home, keeps house for a man and his disgraced daughter and marries the worst man in town, only to have all of her dreams come true. This book is in our young adult section, but Valancy is 29, so I don't know if it belongs there (or if teens would really read it).