I Capture The Castle
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- Create Date：2021-05-02 11:57:47
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Dodie Smith
- ISBN：0099460874
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Summary
'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' is the first line of this timeless， witty and enchanting novel about growing up。 Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere。 Her journal records her life with her beautiful， bored sister， Rose， her fadingly glamorous stepmother， Topaz， her little brother Thomas and her eccentric novelist father who suffers from a financially crippling writer's block。， However， all their lives are turned upside down when the American heirs to the castle arrive and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time。
An older cover for this ISBN may be found here。
An older cover for this ISBN may be found here。
Reviews
Marc
，
Super charming book。 Largely a modern update on Jane Austen’s themes & preoccupations of getting financially-in-need sisters married off。 But for love， station， or money？The rest of the family sweetly veers between Coward’s “Hay Fever” and Kaufman & Hart’s “You Can’t take it with You。”
Tasha
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This is a mildly entertaining epistolary novel describing the life of an innocent teenage girl， Cassandra Mortmain， and her eccentric family， who live together in a somewhat crumbling castle in the English countryside。 While it can pose a challenge to accept viewpoints and approaches to interpersonal relationships from a different era and culture that sharply diverse with one's own， reading fiction written in other times and places is a great exercise in seeing outside your own world。 This book This is a mildly entertaining epistolary novel describing the life of an innocent teenage girl， Cassandra Mortmain， and her eccentric family， who live together in a somewhat crumbling castle in the English countryside。 While it can pose a challenge to accept viewpoints and approaches to interpersonal relationships from a different era and culture that sharply diverse with one's own， reading fiction written in other times and places is a great exercise in seeing outside your own world。 This book served me a reminder that our current interpretations and expectations of those around us differ greatly from those held by people a mere 70-90 years ago。 The young Cassandra is expertly groomed and manipulated by an older neighbor to the point of falling madly in love with him。 He goes so far as to kiss her， and that's it， she's done for。 The only problem is， he's engaged to her older sister。 Slimy， right？ Apparently not so much to women writing in 1940s England。 This turn of events is rationalized and excused and the offending party is held to zero account for his behavior。 There's no acknowledgement that this man has all the makings of a cad and cheater and quite possibly a seducer of teenage girls。 I was a little blown away by this unspoken acceptance of such boorish behavior， but then I remembered: we're a lot more aware of internalized misogyny some 90 years after this book was written。 Dodie Smith and her character Cassandra may have been happy to lap up such questionable male attention with no questions asked， but in today's world， this sort of behavior would be a gigantic red flag （one hopes）。 。。。more
Tonima Reza Khan
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I still find it difficult to believe it’s not her real journal because it felt so real， so warm， every emotion， every scene so elaborately and honestly described。 I just loved it。
Ann Peachman Stewart
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Described as a “coming of age novel” this is told through the eyes of a 17-year-old girl。 She and her unusual family live in a decaying castle in England in the 1939s。 Poverty is an everyday struggle， and the oldest daughter decides to marry for money。 The father has one book which was published but has writer’s block when he tries to write anything else。 Cassandra learns about men and love as the novel progresses。
M King
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Delightful！
Lizzy Bennet
，
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink。。。" I simply cannot express with words how brilliant this masterpiece of books is。 Cassandra Mortmain is downright brilliant and however much some of her choices make me extremely cross: for example her relationship with Stephen。 I mean he was "devoted" to her， called her Miss Cassandra-so sweet and gentlemanly- and saved her form a restaurant at half 3 in the morning when she didn't have any money on her！ What more could a girl（or boy） want？ I capture t "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink。。。" I simply cannot express with words how brilliant this masterpiece of books is。 Cassandra Mortmain is downright brilliant and however much some of her choices make me extremely cross: for example her relationship with Stephen。 I mean he was "devoted" to her， called her Miss Cassandra-so sweet and gentlemanly- and saved her form a restaurant at half 3 in the morning when she didn't have any money on her！ What more could a girl（or boy） want？ I capture the castle is simply ， without a doubt one of the best books ever written。 。。。more
Aime Dollete
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Awesome novel。 I love it。 You can join in NovelStar writing contest with a theme "WEREWOLVES" Prices are amazing！ https://author。starlight。ink/essay/in。。。 （PC） http://app。novelstar。top/index/index/。。。 or email any of the following editors; hardy@novelstar。top joye@novelstar。top lena@novelstar。top app。novelstar。top Awesome novel。 I love it。 You can join in NovelStar writing contest with a theme "WEREWOLVES" Prices are amazing！ https://author。starlight。ink/essay/in。。。 （PC） http://app。novelstar。top/index/index/。。。 or email any of the following editors; hardy@novelstar。top joye@novelstar。top lena@novelstar。top app。novelstar。top 。。。more
Jamie
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This was a cute story but I didn’t like the ending
Monica
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I Fluently and confidently enjoying the book。 I read enthusiastically and understood the story。 I love it。 You can join in the NovelStar writing contest happening this April till the end of May with a theme werewolf。 You can also publish your stories in NovelStar， just email our editors hardy@novelstar。top， joye@novelstar。top， or lena@novelstar。top。
Heaven Yu
，
Conceal is a breathtaking， A masterpiece。 Share your great talent。 Join the Novelstar’s writing contest with a theme "WEREWOLVES" Prices are amazing！ https://author。starlight。ink/essay/in。。。 http://app。novelstar。top/index/index/。。。 or email any of the following editors; hardy@novelstar。top; joye@novelstar。top; lena@novelstar。top Conceal is a breathtaking， A masterpiece。 Share your great talent。 Join the Novelstar’s writing contest with a theme "WEREWOLVES" Prices are amazing！ https://author。starlight。ink/essay/in。。。 http://app。novelstar。top/index/index/。。。 or email any of the following editors; hardy@novelstar。top; joye@novelstar。top; lena@novelstar。top 。。。more
MorganJac
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Cute story。 Reminded me of Little Woman or Pride and Prejudice。
peppersocks
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Reflections and lessons learned:“I feel grim - I haven’t any clothes， I haven’t any prospects， I live in a mouldering ruin and I’ve nothing to look forward to but old age。。。 it’s the long cold winter of my life”The first part of this book really appealed as it was featured a family called Cotton and a story about hand me down clothes - the tale told may have been about exotic furs whilst mine were polyester in the 80s， but still hard to ignore the parallels and happy memories of living and growi Reflections and lessons learned:“I feel grim - I haven’t any clothes， I haven’t any prospects， I live in a mouldering ruin and I’ve nothing to look forward to but old age。。。 it’s the long cold winter of my life”The first part of this book really appealed as it was featured a family called Cotton and a story about hand me down clothes - the tale told may have been about exotic furs whilst mine were polyester in the 80s， but still hard to ignore the parallels and happy memories of living and growing。 Summer loving， didn’t it give us all a blast。。。？Halfway through I felt that as this wasn’t my usual chosen style， I knew why - the story felt a bit dry but the thing that saved it was that the writing was magical with some wonderful phrases。 The date of the book is astonishing considering the themes that I think so many teenagers can relate to despite the backdrop - the wise words from a teen voice no matter what the era“。。。it seemed an awful waste that we weren’t in love with each other。。。Why is summer mist romantic and autumn mist just sad。。。” 。。。more
Christopher Dove
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This is a delightful book。 First published in 1949 it is set in the English countryside between the two World Wars。 The story is narrated by Cassandra， a sparky 19 year old。 Indeed the format of the novel is a series of extended journal entries written by Cassandra over the course of several months。 Cassandra lives with her family in a rundown ancient castle。 She lives with her father， step-mother， older sister， Rose and younger brother， Thomas。 There is also a young male lodger， Stephen， who li This is a delightful book。 First published in 1949 it is set in the English countryside between the two World Wars。 The story is narrated by Cassandra， a sparky 19 year old。 Indeed the format of the novel is a series of extended journal entries written by Cassandra over the course of several months。 Cassandra lives with her family in a rundown ancient castle。 She lives with her father， step-mother， older sister， Rose and younger brother， Thomas。 There is also a young male lodger， Stephen， who lives with them at the castle。 The father is a writer who had a great success with his first novel and could afford to buy the castle。 Unfortunately since that first novel he has written nothing。 Over the years their financial situation has got worse and worse。 There is very little furniture left in the house， because a lot of it had to be sold in order to stay afloat。 Into this situation comes two American men who are heirs to the Scoatney estate。 Can the family's financial situation be solved if Rose is married to one of these Americans？ Could they get father writing again to bring money into the house？ The writing is very evocative of time and place and I highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Charlotte Mulon
，
Fantastic book The title is very true to the book and I loved everything about it。 The depth and the variety of the characters， the description of the countryside and of London really make the book exceptional。
Felicity March
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I remind myself of how often we were cold and hungry with barely a rag to our backs， and then I count the blessings that have descended on us; but I still seem to fancy the past most。 This is ridiculous。 And it is ridiculous that I should have this dull， heavy， not exactly unhappy but - well， no kind of feeling when I ought to be blissfully happy。 Perhaps if I make myself write I shall find out what is wrong with me。17 year old Cassandra Mortmain invites us into the inner workings of her life an I remind myself of how often we were cold and hungry with barely a rag to our backs， and then I count the blessings that have descended on us; but I still seem to fancy the past most。 This is ridiculous。 And it is ridiculous that I should have this dull， heavy， not exactly unhappy but - well， no kind of feeling when I ought to be blissfully happy。 Perhaps if I make myself write I shall find out what is wrong with me。17 year old Cassandra Mortmain invites us into the inner workings of her life and mind via the journal she scribbles away into （with coded writing of course） over the ever changing seasons of the year。 Her family are notably eccentric; with her author father suffering from chronic writers block， her glamorous muse of a stepmother Topaz who takes for nude walks in the fields， her lovelorn and bored sister Rose and her younger brother Thomas growing smarter each page。 All living in a deteriorating but beautiful and peculiar castle that they neglect to pay rent for and just about survive in。 All is to become even more complicated when two American brothers， Neil and Simon， arrive to investigate this castle they will one day inherit。 Love， heartbreak， ambition and cultural clashes ensue as we witness our narrator navigate a new pathway to her and her family’s future。 Putting these themes together; crumbling British history， eccentric family relations， American interlopers and a young girl becoming a woman， and you have the recipe for a classic page turner。 I really enjoyed reading this novel， Cassandra is a wonderful and generous author who lets us into her deepest thoughts and imaginings， some she can barely confess to herself。 But I also enjoyed the varied nuances and eccentricities of each character and how they individually add to the mix。 They create a wonderful whirlpool of eclectic British personalities that spark and flash off one another。 I really appreciated the relationships between our protagonists and her family; her sweet affection to Stephen， her whisperings with Topaz， her fear for her father and even her enlightening interactions with the vicar。 Each relationship different to the last but all contribute in building her into the woman she is becoming。However， this novel would not be what it is were it not for its castle setting。 Not only is the title a nod to it， and the narrative driven by the question of its ownership， but Smith conjures up the most beautiful descriptions of it throughout each changing season。 Yes， the roofs are leaking， and yes the staircases are crumbling and no they don’t have it fully furnished。。 but this all just adds to its mysterious charm。 The setting whisks the reader away to the magnetic and somewhat magical English countryside， where dusk is a time and place all of its own making and Midsummer can be marked and celebrated in the wilds of nature。 It certainly made me want to run away to the countryside and find my own castle to inhabit。Ultimately， this is a coming of age novel where not only teenage Cassandra， but the older characters too are under a type of transformation and self discovery。 Messages are mixed， missed and misinterpreted。 Love is hidden， swapped and confessed。 The country is exchanged with the city， riches are gained and lost， and it seems no character at the end is entirely the same as when they started。 Smith managed to keep me turning the pages right to the very end， and these misguided and misunderstood interactions don’t come to the surface until the final chapter and I was desperate to see which relationships would be salvaged and who got their happy ending。 Needless to say I was satisfied with each of the characters endings （or should I say beginnings。。？） and I am patiently waiting for Cassandra to open up another journal to provide us with more musings and thoughts from within her castles; both her home and her mind。 。。。more
Christina
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All in all， I liked this book， I just wasn't fond of the ending。 All in all， I liked this book， I just wasn't fond of the ending。 。。。more
Nastya
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So once again I'm 20% in and I need to make a decision。 Because， frankly， I'm having no fun with this book。This is quirkiness overload。 We have oh so many witty one-liners。 But the story？ What story。 （although they've just met the brothers so I guess it's a romance from this point）This is a coming-of-age story about the family of 5 who live in the castle and are very poor but in a romantic kind of way。 This is a poverty where 4 adults don't have jobs and the servant（they don't pay him， he works So once again I'm 20% in and I need to make a decision。 Because， frankly， I'm having no fun with this book。This is quirkiness overload。 We have oh so many witty one-liners。 But the story？ What story。 （although they've just met the brothers so I guess it's a romance from this point）This is a coming-of-age story about the family of 5 who live in the castle and are very poor but in a romantic kind of way。 This is a poverty where 4 adults don't have jobs and the servant（they don't pay him， he works for free） who lives with them goes to do extra work outside to pay this family money just because。 This is poverty where the youngest 15 years old son goes to private（？） school because he got a scholarship and the Vicar paid for his year's ticket for train because why not。 I did not get what others do all day except for the patriarch who reads detective stories in his room。 If I persist， I have a suspicion this book will not be higher than 2 stars。 Maybe I should've read this as a teenager？ Who knows。 。。。more
HEATHER
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Light and charming。 I missed this one as a young person， but still found it delightful。 Very English。
Holly
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I really enjoyed reading this book！ It’s comical， and I love that the voice is so strong for Cassandra， the narrator as she pens the story in her journals。 I knew this would be a 4-star book the whole time， until the end， when it dropped to 3 for me。She is seventeen I guess， but I was under the impression she was much younger and maybe that spoilt some of it。 All of the bits with her father， Mortmain， and with Topaz， I loved and the plot line to get her father writing again was funny and what ke I really enjoyed reading this book！ It’s comical， and I love that the voice is so strong for Cassandra， the narrator as she pens the story in her journals。 I knew this would be a 4-star book the whole time， until the end， when it dropped to 3 for me。She is seventeen I guess， but I was under the impression she was much younger and maybe that spoilt some of it。 All of the bits with her father， Mortmain， and with Topaz， I loved and the plot line to get her father writing again was funny and what kept me going。 The romances were too unrequited， everyone in love with the wrong person and very little resolution there is what dropped it down for me。 I expected what happened with Rose， but I was looking for more resolution for Cassandra， and especially Stephen。 I would giggle out loud as I read， and honestly the climax of the story with Mortmain had me gleeful， I loved it。 Just disappointed at the end。 Still worth reading absolutely。 。。。more
Bonie Schrupp
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Seventeen yr。 old Cassandra lives in a run-down castle with her family and this is her notebook of happenings & thoughts for a six month period。 Entertaining， funny， thoughtful！ Glad I read it。
Karen Rust
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Loved this book。 Beautiful prose， captivating characterisation。 Read it。 :）
London
，
How did I miss this wonderfully charming and surprisingly modern classic？ I’m already looking forward to a reread！
Alice
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A cozy window into another time， when both portrait painters and moving pictures existed side by side and writers lived in genteel poverty。 I fell in love with the castle， as probably almost everyone does， and has me yet again wishing I could travel。 But， after all， castles like this exist best between the pages of the book。 All the characters are rather messy as people， but you fall in love with them anyway。 The narrator （and writer）， Cassandra， was very sympathetic and self-assured， comfortabl A cozy window into another time， when both portrait painters and moving pictures existed side by side and writers lived in genteel poverty。 I fell in love with the castle， as probably almost everyone does， and has me yet again wishing I could travel。 But， after all， castles like this exist best between the pages of the book。 All the characters are rather messy as people， but you fall in love with them anyway。 The narrator （and writer）， Cassandra， was very sympathetic and self-assured， comfortable with the family’s rather shabby life although hoping for more。 I was very fond of her stepmother， Topez， who lived the most interesting life as an artist’s model but doesn’t have a single interesting thing to say about books。 The full cast audiobook by BBC is a masterpiece， and every little sound， from background music to the near silence of a kiss enlivens the performance。 The voices of the characters were all very good， except Rosie and Cassandra， who for some reason sounded very similar。 A short， but very sweet read。 。。。more
Olivia
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I went back and forth between loving and hating this。
Booksforall93
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This book was ok。 It isn't the best that I have ever read but it kept me interested。It did take me a while to get into because of the language。 We follow the Mortmain family through Cassandra's journal。 Cassandra is the second daughter and second of three children in the Mortmain family。 Cassandra's father is an author suffering financially crippling writers' block and has since the family moved to their current house which is a castle。 He also spent time in prison after killing his first wife。 This book was ok。 It isn't the best that I have ever read but it kept me interested。It did take me a while to get into because of the language。 We follow the Mortmain family through Cassandra's journal。 Cassandra is the second daughter and second of three children in the Mortmain family。 Cassandra's father is an author suffering financially crippling writers' block and has since the family moved to their current house which is a castle。 He also spent time in prison after killing his first wife。 Topaz is Cassandra's ste[-mother。 She is eccentric and used to model for painters。Rose， is the eldest of the Mortmain children and she is frustrated at having to live in their poverty。Thomas is the youngest of the children and mainly keeps himself to himself。When their landlord dies， the heirs to the castle come over to England from America， their lives are then changed forever。 I think my favourite characters in this book were the secondary characters of Stephen and Topaz。 Stephen has been taken in by the family after being orphaned when his mother， who worked for the family， dies。 Stephen does jobs for the family and when he gets a job outside of the family， most of his wages go into helping the family。 I felt bad for Stephen because he was so blindly in love with Cassandra and did anything that she wanted him to do。I thought the Americans， the Cotton family， were nice enough and helped the Mortmains as best that they could。 At some points， it felt to me that they were just flouting their wealth。 I found Rose cruel， to both Cassandra and Simon Cotton， and she was very dismissive of Stephen。 I can understand her wanting to marry Simon Cotton to help with her family's financial situation but I think there could have been a better way than being cruel。 Overall I thought this book was ok。 I probably wouldn't read it again， but I'm glad I have read it。 。。。more
Gayatri
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This was a re-read， and just the dose of joy and comfort I needed during these strange， difficult times。
Grace
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this book got me out of a fat reading slump in 2018 - thanks to my amazin english teacher at the time for recommending this book to me！！！it perfectly encapsulates the feeling of growing up and becoming more aware of the world around you whilst wishing to remain innocent
Liv
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cute。 endearing。 love these characters。 love this world。 want to live in it。 but the men annoy me。
sela
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i read this book in january and it left me in a good mood for weeks。the prose of this book is so pretty， and the storyline was remarkably better than i thought it would be。 i thought from other reviews that i would hate how naive and girlish the narrator was， but i loved her。 this book is about girlhood， and first love， and jealousy， and growing up as a girl- which warrants a fair amount of mistakes。 cassandra is extremely well written。 from how she talks about her family to her wardrobe to mids i read this book in january and it left me in a good mood for weeks。the prose of this book is so pretty， and the storyline was remarkably better than i thought it would be。 i thought from other reviews that i would hate how naive and girlish the narrator was， but i loved her。 this book is about girlhood， and first love， and jealousy， and growing up as a girl- which warrants a fair amount of mistakes。 cassandra is extremely well written。 from how she talks about her family to her wardrobe to midsummer's eve， she's genuine。 you feel her discomfort and guilt when things go awry。 and all the rest of the characters are unique and loveable， and not a bit cliché as i expected them to be。 this is one of my go-to comfort books。5/5 stars。 。。。more
Molly
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Argh。 This book is really tough to rate; I loved it intensely， until the last 15% or so。 In all candor， this novel is really a 4。5。 It was a delight up until that bitter， unsatisfying ending。 There was crisp， snappy writing。 It provided sharp insight and so many belly laughs。 It was obviously carefully crafted for maximum enjoyment。 There was absolutely no fluff， rather a beautiful stream of charming thoughts and humorously recanted events （the book is in the form of a journal） to enchant the re Argh。 This book is really tough to rate; I loved it intensely， until the last 15% or so。 In all candor， this novel is really a 4。5。 It was a delight up until that bitter， unsatisfying ending。 There was crisp， snappy writing。 It provided sharp insight and so many belly laughs。 It was obviously carefully crafted for maximum enjoyment。 There was absolutely no fluff， rather a beautiful stream of charming thoughts and humorously recanted events （the book is in the form of a journal） to enchant the reader。 It was tremendous and glorious。。。until the end。 I was bitter; I still am， I guess。 Is that the note you want to leave the reader on？ 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=I Capture The Castle
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=I Capture The Castle&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,I Capture The Castle&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0