The Blue Castle

I really enjoyed this book. It's a quick read but a great story line. The characters are well developed and it stays interesting.

L.M. Montgomery's works interested me at an early age. I first saw the Anne of Green Gables movies and years later read "Anne of Avonlea". I loved the atmosphere and the characters and wanted to know more of Anne. After reading the series, I knew I had to read more by this author. "The Blue Castle" caught my eye one day just because of the name. I read it right away and as soon as I was done I HAD to read it over again! I was completely enchanted, as I am DELIGHTED to see that others are too.Valancy's mother and aunt really got on my nerves and the entrance of Barney Snaith just driving by intrigued me to no end. Valancy in one of those enlighted spirits who is weighted down by her stodgy, judgemental relatives. She feels she is just doomed to waste away into old-maidenhood or maybe fall over dead. She has no hope of being married and considers herself plain with a "too-small nose". She dares not dress or do her hair as she wishes and can't even speak out of turn when twitted even though she is 29 years old! She hates the house, she hates her room, she hates her life, she hates the strict schedule she forced into as if she is still a child. She even is still called "Doss", her hated childhood nickname. A trip to an "unapproved" doctor turns all this around and she rebels against her family's oppression. After finding that a childhood schoolmate is dying, Valancy goes to nurse her where she becomes friends with the aforementioned Barney. Barney drives a beat-up rattle trap car "Lady Jane Grey" and mostly keeps to himself on his own little island, leading Valancy's nasty family to refer to him as "jailbird", criminal, drunk, etcetera. Valancy feels just the opposite. She buys a bright, stylish dress, takes trips "about the town" with Barney and is rescued by him from the rowdy Chidley Corners dance. Not wanting to go home after her friend dies and not wanting herself to die as an old maid, Valancy makes another wild decision. This decision will lead to a life better than her imaginings and the ending will surprise you completely! You don't see it coming so DO NOT spoil the surprise by reading ahead!!! It is delightful, heartwarming and creates a splitting smile across your face when the entire plot is revealed. I CANNOT reccommend this highly enough!!! It is TOPS on my list of single books.This is a book that teaches you to live for yourself and to try whatever you feel you are called to do. Be yourself, live your life to the fullest and don't let anyone tell you who to be or how to act! It is for a bit older audience though, late teens and up. It's a book you will read over and over again and NEVER be tired of! The Blue Castle is just proof of why L.M. Montgomery's books have been popular and celebrated for so long. They never go out of date or style, the stories are a timeless kind! You'll find, to use an "Anne" term, that you are "kindred spirits" with Montgomery and all her characters!

It was quite nice to be back into the lovely and whimsical storytelling of Lucy Maud Montgomery. After reading most of her Anne of Green Gables series, and enjoying them, I was excited to read something new by her! :-)The Blue Castle told the intriguing tale of a twenty-nine year old woman living with her strict, bleak, colorless mother and cousin. She has no marriage prospects. Her family disdains her. She’s dying. And yet she’s never even really lived. What will it take for Valancy to go from scared, timid, trapped girl to vivacious, free woman? This novel was rather interesting. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like it. It was beautiful all in all. And yes, though slower paced, there’s just something about L.M. Montgomery’s writing style that I enjoy. Valancy Stirling was an unusual but relatable character. I found that I could empathize with her over this and that. I loved her “blue castle” fantasies! :-) After a while, however, her pitifulness and feeling sorry for herself did start to rub me wrong. I understood. And yet I didn’t. There’s ways to rise above such drama. Go make a life for yourself, for one. And that’s what Valancy did! It took a bit of time, but she eventually did. That first big step of hers was rather poignant. You know, like when we start helping others, we forget about all our woes? In any case, I ended up liking Valancy and adoring her story quite well. The romance... *sigh* It was different and intriguing and fae and utterly sweet. I liked a lot of things about this love story. So much fun. And so beautiful. All clean. But I would still recommend older teens to adult. It just more written for that age I think. Our main character is almost thirty, after all. Some things I didn’t like about The Blue Castle. One: a phrase here or there almost seemed mocking of Christianity or the idea of God. I wish L.M. Montgomery would have expounded more on her characters’ faith. Such an elusive element of faith leaves me feeling befuddled and rather concerned at points. I will say though, once Valancy is more settling down, it does mention that she found a nice, country church, and liked it. Two: Valancy was rude and a bit arrogant at certain parts. It was a crucial part of her story, but her sassy, indifferent attitude didn’t impress me at all. Flinging her relatives’ not-so-perfect looks in their faces especially wasn’t a nice thing to do… since she didn’t like when they did that to her! But that actually worked out pretty nicely too. I think I was satisfied for the most part as the story progressed. There was probably a few other things here and there that made me pause. Little comments or happenings that were a bit distasteful. But all in all, I had to sigh at the end. It was such a lovely tale in conclusion. The “old” spinster. The nature books she loves. The heart problems. The fantastical blue castle. The mysterious man. The Blue Castle said “Wake up!” Live zealously! You only have one life. Make it count! To a certain extent, take control of your destiny. Don’t let other people’s expectations or society’s opinion of you dictate how you feel. LIVE! Love. Care. Smile. And who knows, romance and blue castles might be waiting around the bend… :-)

I've loved the "Anne of Green Gables" series since I was a little kid. I've also read many of L. M. Mongomery's other books, but for some reason, I never got around to reading this book until recently.It's definitely a much different book than any of the other L. M. Mongomery books that I've read. It feels a bit darker than her other books. That's about the best way that I can explain it.This book has some great lessons about living the life you want to live, not judging others based on gossip, the true meaning of friendship, and a number of other things. While it is very different from other books by this same author, it was an enjoyable read.

A friend suggested I read this book that it was her favorite and I agree. I’m just sad that. it ended.

Lovely tale kept me hooked and wanting to read more and more!old fashioned love story with a nice twist at the end.

I loved the author's clean , clear language , interesting characters , especially Valancy and Barney , the eloquent descriptions of nature , and, to my mind , a very beautiful love story. The two people concerned , in this love story, may be rather rare in this world of ours , which tends to be materialistic, mercenary, political, self centered and , oft , intolerant , but they are certainly not non existent . This story inspires us to choose a path which though less often chosen , confers a sublime and sustained happiness, a path which pulls down , to our humble earth , the very stars from the violet heavens , a path of compassion, caring and selflessness which opens the elusive and exclusive gates of Heaven for the hitherto traveling soul .

Romanzo meraviglioso di Lucy Maud Montgomery: la storia di Valancy che fiorisce all'alba dei trent'anni, sfidando le convenzioni.

This is a love story, trite, predictable, certainly, but lyrically written with such a love of nature and the simple life that it shines.This is not Anne of Green Gables but the heroine is just as brave, bold and eccentric as Anne, and anyone who enjoyed Anne’s adventures will enjoy this much more grown up tale of a life turned around.

I am so sad L. M. Montgomery's books are not so popular in Germany as they are in Poland. This one accompanied me my entire life so when I got the original English edition was I very shocked to find out how different it is in Polish since the name of Valancy and Barney were changed which changes the feel for the entire book.The Blue Castle is a story about two desperate young people and how a seemingly chance event changes their lives forever. It's a truly magical story about hope and the power of imagination within hopelessness and about happiness of friendship.I would recommend this book for every young lady.