I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Summary

Cassandra and her family live in a castle. Don't get too excited. It's a ramshackle old broken down castle. But it's still pretty spectacular. Not as spectacular as how spectacularly dysfunctional Cassandra's family is.

They're a poor family. Father, James Mortmain, lives up to his name: he's a writer, but he hasn't written a thing since his last great book Jacob Wrestling. And that was years ago. Now he sits in an isolated section of the castle and reads the detective novels he gets from the library.

Topaz is father's second wife and stepmother to the children. She makes the household run and cares for everyone the best she can. Although she's a little quirky (she likes to commune with nature, in the nude) she's pragmatic. She mends clothes, and makes what food they can grow or barter for last.

Cassandra's older sister can't stand living in the castle and living in poverty but she's perfectly useless, can't be bothered to help around the house, or contribute to the family's income. Her one best hope is to marry a wealthy gentleman.

Cassandra's younger brother, Thomas, is still in school.

Attached to the household is a young man named Stephen. He lives in a dark room off the kitchen and does most of the work around the house, even though he hasn't been paid in years. He has a massive crush on Cassandra.

The wealthy gentleman of Rose's dreams arrives in the form of a new landlord, a young well educated American named Simon. Apparently he studied Mortmain's book in college and was a big fan. So he and his brother, Neil, spend more and more time with the Mortmains. Eventually Simon asks Rose to marry him.

And then the worst possible thing happens...

What i liked

The writing was superb. Cassandra is the first person narrator and the book is her journal. It's honest and real.

The characters are super real. And I appreciate that very much.

What i didn't like

nothing, really. Or at least, nothing I can remember.

Conclusion

It's a very complex book, it has a whole tonne of layers and it's very deep. One day I would like to write a paper on it. I'll give it 5/5 medieval castles.