Current mood:	sick
Entry tags:	british, classic, fiction

#35: "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith
35) I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This book is July's pick for bookof_themonth. I read it early so I can fully participate.

My first reaction is that this is very British. It was slower than I expected and it took me time to get into it, but the setting is wonderful and the people are delightfully unique and eccentric. I can see how J.K. Rowling would take inspiration from this. The protagonist, Cassandra, lives with her family in a dilapidated castle. Her father published a book of staggering success and has written nothing since, leaving the family in abject poverty. Her older sister, Rose, is determined to marry up, and when the American Cotton family takes possession of their family castle nearby, she makes her move.

The book is in the form of a diary, but it never feels like a diary. There are some moments of great hilarity such as the bear coat and Father-in-the-tower (a technique I should try for Nanowrimo). It's really a coming-of-age book for Cassandra, very delicately written, and it does show how much she has matured and how she is still more mature than Rose in some regards.

It's a good story overall, but not one I think I'll reread. However, I'll gladly take possession of that castle. I do love the setting of 1930s England; I kept thinking of Hercule Poirot during the London scenes.