One of the 20th Century’s most beloved novels is still winning hearts I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle … entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle’s walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has “captured the castle”– and the heart of the reader– in one of literature’s most enchanting entertainments.
This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I’ve ever met. — J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series
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Today is Dodie Smith’s birthday, author of I Capture the Castle, one of my all-time favorite books.
Smith is probably most famous for writing 101 Dalmatians, reportedly inspired by a remark from a friend that her Dalmatians (one named Pongo!) would “make a lovely fur coat!”
#triviatuesday
I can’t believe this book had never been on my radar before now. I fell in love with the narrator of this epistolary novel, Cassandra Mortmain, immediately. Insightful, whimsical, and ahead of her time, Cassandra tells her coming of age story with beautiful prose and unflinching honesty. Lines of unrequited love run throughout this book, linking …
I read this novel several years ago and was enchanted by it. It’s a story that sticks with you.
I adored this jewel of a story, which is set somewhere in England in the 1930’s. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives with her penniless family in a crumbling castle and narrates the unfolding events through her diary. The sense that we are being let into her innermost world with a generosity of spirit and willingness to tell all gives the …
I was a teenager when I first fell in love the Mortmain family and their crumbling castle. Since then, I’ve returned to its comfortable pages countless times–and never been disappointed. If all you know about Dodie Smith is her dalmatians, I dare you to pick this one up and not be swept away.
True story of a woman growing up in a very dysfunctional family.
One of my favorites.
Great read to ground you in the British ‘way of life’
A quirkier Sense and Sensibility from the original author (it was a book! a book i tell you!) of A Hundred and One Dalmatians
I Capture the Castle. An intriguing title. A beautiful story.
I saw the movie first (half a dozen times at least) and just now read the book. The movie is an absolute delight, although, I think I’m biased because Romola Garai is my favorite actress. Romola was my muse for Ally in my first novel, Home Ice, which goes to show how much everything is …
A delightful, exquisitely written coming-of-age classic I’d never heard of until recently. The seventeen-year-old narrator, a would-be author, lives in a crumbling English castle. Her whole life changes when… Not to worry, I won’t spoil the pleasure.
Truly a lovely read and a delightful coming of age story. This book has such a strong, distinctive narrative voice and Smith’s descriptions of the Mortmain family and their home cannot help but bring a smile to your face. My only issue is with the various love stories. I have no idea why anyone in this novel falls in love with anyone else – they …
Not quite finished yet, but very entertaining. Great characters.
Cassandra, one of two impoverished sisters embracing life and dreams in this ruined English castle, has been called the most delightful narrator in all of fiction. My two daughters heartily agree. Amid so much rack and ruin in our world today, this marvelous romance invites us to share the simplest pleasures and the headiest flights of …
“I Capture the Castle” might be the perfect book. When you picture yourself drinking tea in a cozy armchair next to a window dashed with rain, this is the book you’re reading. The narrator, Cassandra, is beguiling and genuine, trying to find her way towards womanhood as she grows up in a ruined castle with her very unique family. Set in an …
Unique perspective on living with a writer with writers block
The British family of a genius writer who has been blocked for years slides into poverty, with only marriage or creative inspiration to save them all. A gentle, sweet farce.
Adorable, in an honest way that doesn’t turn aside from discomfort and unpleasantness and just plain selfishness, yet is somehow all the more charming for it. I laughed out …
I first read it 40 years ago, and it is a book I have reread multiple times, finding new insights each time. A classic.
So enjoyable and touching. Interesting character based story.
I read this book a long time ago but remember loving it.