A new edition of my favourite L M Montgomery book, The Blue Castle, arrived the other day. Goes without saying I have a battered old edition which I will never part with as well, but could not resist this simply delightful copy published by Hesperus.
I have read the Anne books, the Emily books, the Story Girl books and every single piece of writing I can lay my hands on by this author, and this one is top of my list. I read it every single year without fail and love every word of it. I know I have raved about it before on Random but make no apologies for doing so again.
Valancy Stirling is 29 years old. She is part of a large, solid, middle class family where appearances and standards are all and which rule their lives. Plain, depressed and despised by her family by her lack of a husband and prospects, her life is dreary and dull. At night, however, when she goes to bed her imagination runs riot as she dreams of her Blue Castle:
"Valancy, so cowed and subdued and overriden and snubbed in real life, was apt to let herself to rather splendidly in her daydreams...........she had lived in the Blue Castle every since she could remember....she could see it plainly with its turrets and banners on the pine clad mountain height, wrapped in its faint blue loveliness, against the sunset skies of a fair and unknown land. Everything wonderful and beautiful was in that castle"
And then one day, her life changes. She hears some news which makes her decide that she is going to defy
her family and do what she wants to do. She finds that once you start speaking your mind and saying what you have thought for years, it gets easier and easier to carry on doing so. The reaction of the clan to her newly discovered outspokeness makes for very amusing reading. To the utter horror of the Stirling clan Valancy leaves her home and takes up a post as a housekeeper to Roaring Abel, who spends most of his time drunk but in a rather fine booming sort of way, nothing mean or nasty about him at all. He has a daughter, Cissie, who the entire town regards as a fallen woman, having had an illegitimate baby. The baby died and she herself is not long for the world. Valancy, who was an old school friend many years ago, ups sticks to look after her and keep house. Here she finds herself, a purpose in her life and she meets Barney Snaith.....
Valancy's life is transformed and there then follows the most delicious story about her finding of happiness and the simple joy of being free, of doing just what she wants with no time restraints, time to be herself. She blossoms and the Stirlings decide to wash their hands of her and tell everyone that she has had a breakdown and is quite quite mad.
This is a Cinderella story and, as such, pure magic and the ending will make you smile and feel happy. This is why I read this book over and over again and will continue to do so in the future. L M Montgomery is one of my all time favourite authors and, having read her journals and knowing what a hard and difficult life she led, makes me sympathise with Valancy even more.
Simply gorgeous book and, like all the Hesperus titles, a beautiful little edition. Do buy, read and love and don't forget to let me know what you think of it.
