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Product Description
Book Description
Valancy lives a drab life with her overbearing mother and prying aunt. Then a shocking diagnosis from Dr. Trent prompts her to make a fresh start. For the first time, she does and says exactly what she feels. As she expands her limited horizons, Valancy undergoes a transformation, discovering a new world of love and happiness. One of Lucy Maud Montgomery's only novels intended for an adult audience, The Blue Castle is filled with humour and romance.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!!!,
By "smithie2" (Springfliend, Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Blue Castle (Mass Market Paperback)
Ok, now WHY didn't this woman write more adult novels? She is very good at them! I loved this book, and I couldn't understand why it wasn't as popular as the Anne, Emily, or Pat books.As opposed to how Montgomery conforms to what society expects of women in the Anne and Emily and Pat books, she does the opposite in this one. Valancy PROPOSES TO THE GUY! I love how she goes from being this docile creature who takes crap from everyone, into this shameless woman who DOES WHAT SHE WANTS! And she goes and becomes a nurse for a girl with an illigitimate child, these are social outcasts! And the guy she marries! He is a HUGE social outcast. I love how proudly and shamelessly she goes about it. This novel may not have been popular in it's time but it sure has to be made into a movie today. And there should be sequals to the movie. The same way books were written about Laura Ingalls Wilders daughter, should there be books written by someone who is alive today about Valancy. Oh Maud, if you could come back and see how we love her now! I wish Emily had learned from her and pursued what she wanted more in life. Maybe then she would have been happier.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carpe diem,
By agtpeach (PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Blue Castle (Mass Market Paperback)
The Blue Castle is a perfect example of marketing gone very, VERY wrong. Those silly publishers who gave this wonderful book such a tawdry cover and shallow synopsis have done L. M. Montgomery and Valancy Stirling a huge disservice. This isn't a conventional romance, but an inspiring story of a woman who takes control of her life and discovers a beautiful world living her dream, her Blue Castle. The positive reviews may sound a little over-enthusiastic, but women and girls have reaffirmed this book as an all-time favorite time and time again. Everyone I know who has read this wishes they had gotten to it sooner and/or laments its undeserved obscurity. My sister and I fight over our copy, stupid cover and all, since we both feel compelled to read it a few times a year.Here's why: Valancy Stirling is an Everywoman - all of us can relate to her helplessness and apathy, her joys and triumphs. In Valancy's case, her intimidating, suffocating family and poverty have instilled fear from a young age, when she was an insignificant little girl. After a lifetime of negative comments, she finds herself a hopeless, though respectable, old maid at the age of 29, unloved and unwanted even by her own mother. Then Dr. Trent tells her she has a terminal heart condition, and Valancy throws all caution to the winds, deciding to really *live* for her last few months. Her repressed personality and spirit finally express themselves, often humorously and cheekily. She says what's on her mind, sees her relatives as the sillies they are, and very importantly, refuses to wear her hated red flannel petticoat. You will feel deliciously refreshed as Valancy lives on her own terms for once. The characters are well drawn with Montgomery's typically detailed hand, giving life to each of the distinctive citizens of Deerwood, from hilarious Roaring Abel to sweet Cissy to the fearsome Rev. Stalling, as well as many members of the upright, uptight Stirling clan. Also as important as the people is the marvelous Muskoka "outback," with its evocative descriptions in the John Foster books Valancy devours, and the lovely little island of Mistawis and its natural wonders. Most readers will agree that The Blue Castle is an adult book. Considering L. M. Montgomery wrote *all* her books for an adult audience, this isn't strange. What makes this one more so isn't content so much as appreciation. Any adolescent will enjoy the book, but it takes those years after being a teen to truly empathize with Valancy's story. The Blue Castle is about disappointment and renewal, bitterness and second chances, rarely in the realm of an age of "firsts;" which is why this one markedly lacks the preciousness that is often found (appropriately) in the "younger" books like The Story Girl, the Anne of Green Gables, and the Emily of New Moon books. Give this book a try - you won't regret it. This is one to share and pass on.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love This Book!,
By
This review is from: The Blue Castle (Paperback)
I am a huge Maud Montgomery fan and I own most of the books she has written. I bought The Blue Castle sometime back in the 90's and I have read, and re-read it many, many times, and each time I enjoy it just as much as if I were reading it for the first time. You feel yourself become Valancy as she breaks away from her stiff family tradtions and branches out to become the person she really is inside. You live your life with Valancy and Barney in their snug little "blue castle" on Mistawis island. My mother also loves this book and I am ordering another copy for her for Mother's Day this year! I would highly recommend this book to other Lucy Maud fans. You won't be disappointed.
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