Review: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

by Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmatians

Cassandra Mortmain lives with her brother, sister, father and stepmother in a Castle. Her family is the opposite of royalty. He father, a failing writer, does not provide for his family. In her journals, Cassandra writes about her ordinary and average life until one day, he life becomes much more exciting.

The wealthy extended family of the landlord unexpectedly comes by for a visit. Suddenly, the Cottons and the Mortmains are friends. Cassandra's sister Rose gets engaged to one of the brothers, and Cassandra's life drastically changes.

I haven't read Pride and Prejudice, but I think it would be like I Capture the Castle. This book was published in the 1940s, so the tone is different from Victorian writers, but I Capture the Castle uses some of the themes common in the works of the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen.

If you stray away from Victorian era books like I do, I Capture the Castle is the perfect book to ease you into it. The writing isn't stuff and hard to understand. You will actually want to turn another page. Cassandra's narration is fresh and inoocent. She is excited and her excitement is passed on to the reader.

Grade: B+