The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (Book Review)

 

Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Originally Published: 1926

Format Used: ebook and physical book (248 pages)

The Blue Castle is a witty and charming story from the prolific L.M. Montgomery.  I didn't know another L.M. Montgomery novel could equal the love I have for Anne of Green Gables, but that just happened.  I read it this month for the two reading challenges I am working on this year that are focused on classics: It is the first book I read for Back to Classics (for the category of humorous book) and the sixteenth for The Classics Club. I got a little fangirl after finishing it today, so it deserves its own post.

First, let's just take a second to appreciate the many gorgeous editions that exist of this classic:

PLOT

The Blue Castle is set in the 1920s in the fictitious lakeside town of Deerwood of the Muskoka region of Ontario. It begins with an unhappy, unmarried, and unappreciated Valancy Stirling on the eve of her twenty-ninth birthday (which everyone forgets about). 

“One does not sleep well, sometimes, when one is twenty-nine on the morrow, and unmarried, in a community and connection where the unmarried are simply those who have failed to get a man.”

Her overbearing mother and relatives treat her like she's ten (telling her what to wear, eat, and do at all times), while simultaneously casting her off as a spinster who will never marry because she is so plain and not beautiful at all (they repeatedly mention this). She herself seems somewhat resigned to this boring, monotonous, passive life until she visits a doctor about the chest pain she has been experiencing, and receives the dreadful and shocking news that she could die at any minute.  After looking back at her miserable life, she decided to go out in flying colors and to take a cue from Tim McGraw and  live like she was dying. She begins to defy her bossy family's rules and demands, leading to some uncharacteristic decisions that make her feel like she is finally living for the first time. She makes new friends, of whom the Stirling clan greatly disapprove, embarking on an adventure that changes her life forever as she learns what it is to love life deeply and fully. 

“Isn't it better to have your heart broken than to have it wither up? Before it could be broken it must have felt something splendid. That would be worth the pain...Rebellion flamed up in her soul as the dark hours passed by – not because she had no future but because she had no past.” 

THOUGHTS

Valancy's transformation from a wilting wallflower and doormat (to her imperious mother and snobbish relatives) to an independent, lively, courageous, free woman was incredibly enjoyable to read. Even before she received the tragic news of her ailing health, she had  a hidden spunkiness that was revealed to the reader only because Valancy was thinking ---and not saying-- the witty statements. But once she figured she had limited time left on the earth and wanted to live it to it's fullest (#YOLO), she turned into quite the firecracker. This was the most humorous and witty of L.M. Montgomery's novels in my opinion. It is one of her few adult novels and has a more mature feel to it than the Emily and Anne books, since Valancy is twice their age (during the first books of those series, at least), though a teenager could easily read it. However, they all had some core similarities (brought up my strict families, filled with wonder and enjoyment of nature, eventually give into their emotions and live life fully).  It was also interesting to read a L.M. Montgomery novel that was not set on Prince Edward Island since most of her novels are set there. It took an otherwise depressing plot  and turned it into an entertaining experience with hilarious one-liners and sarcastic satire. I won't give too much away, but there *might* be a love story in here  that was incredibly adorable.There were a few surprises and the story went a lot differently than I expected, so it didn't feel prescriptive or dry at all. I just absolutely adored it. 

A lot of the humor and satire is found in Montgomery's poking fun at the ridiculousness of the societal norms that marriage is the rite of passage into a respectable life for a woman as well as the stuffiness of the gentile upperclass Stirling clan's prideful and archaic morals and rules.  Here is an example of some of the humor:

“I think,” said Mrs. Frederick, “that if a person makes up her mind not to have colds she will not have colds.”  (Valency's mom is quite the imperious, delusional woman)

"It was permissible, even laudable, to read to improve your mind and your religion, but a book that was enjoyable was dangerous" (The Stirling's ridiculous position on pleasure reading)

“What a spineless thing I must be not to have even one enemy!” (Valency, as she looks back at her passive twenty-eight year and decides to live more adventurously)

“I have really done so few bad things that they have to keep harping on the old ones.”  (Valency, annoyed with her relatives bringing up embarrassing stories about her at parties)

“You're a brick! You're a whole cartload of bricks.” (apparently a very nice compliment)

 I also really loved the atmospheric writing of the Muskoka Lake in Ontario.  I had never heard of this region in Canada. The lush woods and serene lake sounded breathtakingly beautiful and reminded me of  Lake Tahoe. If you like to feel transported into a setting while you read without the descriptions being too flowery or tedious, this was beautifully done in The Blue Castle. I may have googled  Muskoka Lake to see what it really looks like:

Muskoka Lake, ON (source) 

“But now she loved winter. Winter was beautiful "up back" - almost intolerably beautiful. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour - the purest vintage of winter's wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite winter sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice all over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings - torn, twisted, fantastic shadows. Great silences, austere and searching. Jewelled, barbaric hills. The sun suddenly breaking through grey clouds over long, white Mistawis. Ice-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cosy living-room, with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats, seemed cosier than ever. Every hour brought a new revalation and wonder.” 

Muskoka winter (source)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

source

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) was a prolific Canadian author who wrote twenty novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems, and thirty essays. She is mostly remembered for the Anne of Green Gables series, which has achieved massive success worldwide. It is pretty amazing that in spite of (or possible because of?) a hard life —a strict upbringing by grandparents who never showed affection, her mom died early on and her dad moved far away and married a woman who hated her, she had few close friends, had a difficult marriage and wayward son, and struggled with her publishers for many years for the rights to her books — she still wrote lighthearted, endearing, and entertaining stories of childhood and adolescence (many of which had tidbits of reality such as being an orphaned, desiring to be a writer, and having a propensity to re-name local places with much more romantic monikers). But most disheartening is that she battled mental illness in a time when treatment was not understood and being depressed was considered shameful and to be hidden. She seemed to often suffer alone during her dark moments, which is incredibly heartbreaking. To learn more about her life, 

I recommend House of Dreams: The Life of L.M Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg

BEFORE YOU GO ...

For some beautiful art inspired by The Blue Castle, check out these links:

A sunny drive in Lady Jane 

Moonlight on Mistawis Island

A comfortable sunset conversation on the island

a collection of beautiful illustrations by Masako Kubo

CONTENT RATING

PG (mentions a man bent on drunkenness and a woman who had child out of wedlock)

STAR RATING

★★★★★

Have you read this classic? If so, I would love to discuss it in the comments below!