Wow, what an amazing book! I was so surprised to discover it and completely blown away by how good it was. I can't believe this book isn't better known because it is top notch.
As the summary indicates, the story is about a young woman growing up in Canada in the 1900s. She's 29 years old which, by our standards is young, but by the standards of the time is an old maid because she's unmarried. Her family are absolutely awful, so caught up in their own little dramas and problems, always worried about what other people will think of them, and imposing insane rules on themselves which they believe to be proper.
Valance is also the outcast of her family because she's plain looking and unmarried. Her family isn't overly abusive to her but they keep reminding her of mistakes from her past and commenting on her perceived shortcomings. Needless to say, she's miserable and also afraid of her family members. She doesn't feel free to do what she wants or live her life in the manner she desires.
All that changes when she visits a doctor because of chest pains. She learns she's dying and has a year to live. Suddenly she isn't afraid anymore and begins doing and saying whatever she wants. Her family is shocked and it was quite funny to read their reactions as she defied them.
Overall this book is about overcoming your fears and being true to yourself and I can't think of a better message for a book to have. Not only that, but the writing is very well done and the characters are so interesting and well drawn. The story did start a bit slow with detailed descriptions of the crazy characters in Valancy's family and how they annoy her. But I must say even this was so well done that I felt myself suffocating as I read it and almost didn't want to keep going. I did keep reading though because I figured it would all pay off and it really did in a big way.
Although the story seems pretty straight forward, there are a bunch of interesting twists and turns which I didn't see coming. It was such a delightful story to read and is now one of my favorite books of the year which I'll recommend to everyone!
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From the Publisher
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| Anne of Green Gables | The Blue Castle | Magic for Marigold | A Tangled Web | Emily of New Moon | |
| Customer Reviews |
15,191
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5,809
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1,374
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| Price | $8.99 | $9.40 | $11.79 | $11.69 | $11.75 |
| Part of a series | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Standalone title | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| A classic teen book | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Literary Bestseller | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Setting | Prince Edward Island, Canada | Ontario, Canada | Prince Edward Island, Canada | Prince Edward Island, Canada | Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Ages | 12+ | 12+ | 12+ | 12+ | 12+ |
Reviews with images
A wonderful old-fashioned romance
"'I've been keeping up appearances all my life. Now I'm going in for realities. Appearances can go hang!'"A friend recommended L.M. Montgomery's classic The Blue Castle to me two weeks ago, and now I have the pleasure of doing the same! It's a predecessor of the modern romance novel, but it's quite substantive and has these lovely, surreal descriptions of the wilderness in Muskoka, Ontario. (Consider: "Behold the young wild plum-tree which has adorned herself after immemorial fashion in a wedding-veil of fine lace. The fingers of wood pixies must have woven it, for nothing like it ever came from an earthly loom.") Also, the big twist completely caught me by surprise as I was too busy following the left hand to notice the right! I laughed, I smiled, and I felt deeply satisfied by the story. The ending was perhaps too pretty, with a bow on top, as is common with many classics from that period, but honestly, I love that.Montgomery (of Anne of Green Gables fame) has a wonderful, meandering style that nevertheless weaves a tight style. She gleefully caricaturizes the characters, including the main ones, but the caricatures ring true and affectionate. The book is written in third-person omniscient, with occasional asides to the reader (I personally love this, but I think I'm in the minority). Anyway, if you want clever, feel-good story and don't mind an older style, I highly recommend it.
Top reviews from other countries
Isabelle Preece
Beautiful and memorable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2024Savita B Singh
A beautiful love story and a pathlighter through this world 's enigmatic labyrinth .
Reviewed in India on October 19, 2023