With an atmospheric and vibrant writing, it is an engaging, compelling, and an enjoyable read. Apt as a winter-read for the biting yet romantic season, to be accompanied with a hot cup of cocoa in hand!

This is the story of 29-year-old spinster, Valancy Stirling, the old-fashioned and archaic word for single woman being used because those were conservative times where a woman who was single after a certain age was considered to be a loser. As the book said, "She was twenty-nine, lonely, undesired, ill-favoured--the only homely girl in a handsome clan, with no past and no future." Our heroine is single, miserable, and part of a large clan where she sees herself as invisible, has a lot of fear, has no friends, and has never really known happiness in her life. In her sad existence, all she has is her blue castle: her imagination. A pivotal experience in her life (no spoilers), however, changes her life forever.This novel is considered one of L.M. Montgomery's few adult works of fiction, along with A Tangled Web, and is the only book she wrote that is entirely set outside of Prince Edward Island. It has grown in popularity since being republished in 1990. The book was adapted for the stage twice; in 1982 it was made into a successful Polish musical, and ten years later Canadian playwright Hank Stinson authored another version, The Blue Castle: A Musical Love Story. [1] Benjamin (Uncle Benjamin) - Valancy's wealthy, childless, widower uncle who owns a grocery store. Valancy has been brought up to never offend When I came across The Blue Castle a few years ago, I thought it was merely a young adult romance. I don't read romance novels now. I've read them enough for a lifetime when I was a young adult myself. :) But recently when it came to my notice again, I thought I'll give it a try. I told myself that I would endure it because it was a work of L.M. Montgomery and because my bookshelf is in want of Canadian literature. The first few chapters, however, were enough to set me straight. This wasn't a romance novel. Of course, it has romance but the story goes deeper than that. I was pleasantly surprised and a tad bit annoyed for judging a book too hastily by its cover.

You see--I've never had any real life," she said. "I've just--breathed. Every door has always been shut to me."

Valancy was the mistress of the Blue Castle in Spain; a big, imposing, majestic structure of elegance and grandness, resplendent in blue. "Everything wonderful and beautiful was in that castle." I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that it was Valancy who proposed to Barney, and he just casually accepted! That was a fun twist, I thought. :) At some point in time, Valancy decides she knows one thing. She loves Barney with all her heart. When Valancy's childhood friend passes, she knows she will have to leave and return home - then she has an idea. She lets Barney Snaith read the letter from the doctor and then asks Barney if he will marry her - he says yes, but makes it clear she must not expect love from him. Within a couple of days, she's married to Barney and they set out for his home in Muskoka. To Valancy's delight, she recognizes Barney's simple home, set in the midst of splendor in the beautiful mountainous area as the real life rendition of her Blue Castle. Omgomgomgomg when I found out that Barney was not only a millionaire's son, BUT ALSO JOHN FOSTER!!!!!! AAAHHHHH!!! I think that was the best part of the book!! That and his love declaration, of course. Dear me. After Cissy passes away, Valancy asks Barney to marry her, while confessing that she is about to die soon! Agreeing on the proposal, he takes her to live on his island in the woods, which ofcourse Valancy calls as “The Blue Castle”.

The Blue Castle is a 1926 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, best known for her novel Anne of Green Gables (1908). Post coming out of the clutches of her domineering and imperious family, she lands into a job of a caretaker of one of her former schoolmates, Cissy(who is passing away due to consumption). While working, she develops closeness with Barney Snaith!Trying to bring together all the broken pieces of life, coming out of the fear of living, after knowing she has only a year left to live (coz of a fatal heart disease), the 29-year old Valancy Stirling (labelled as an oldmaid) no longer cares about the society, and family members. In short, she decides to stop impressing others, and takes an avowal to start living for herself and experience what all she had dreamt till date for herself! lived in New York, and he owned an island cottage in the Mistawis, which he arrived at when the ice thawed on the lake. He was considered lonely and eccentric, and he did not flatter those who sat for his portraits. Valancy meets After Cissy dies, Valancy asks Barney to marry her. She confesses that she's dying and Barney agrees to marry her. He takes her to live with him on his island up in the woods, which Valancy refers to as their Blue Castle. Valancy and Barney live over a year together and Valancy's heart problems seem to be decreasing until the point that the condition disappears. Relevant University regulations for reassessment can be found here. Please select the relevant section depending on the type of degree and the relevant year of entry onto the course. The resit information can be found under the “Reassessment” section. Street house. She was married at 17 and "whined endlessly" and complained about everything. Valancy describes