I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith

Oh, what a wonderful book! Written by the author of 101 Dalmations, it came as a surprise to me that it was a perfect teen coming-of-age novel. What a gem! It was written in 1949, and set slightly earlier.The Mortmain family ( Dad - previously successful author, now suffering from writer's block, his second wife Topaz - ex artists model, oldest daughter Rose - with great expectations, middle daughter Cassandra - heroine, and son Thomas - a schoolboy) all live in a crumbling Suffolk castle. Dad and Mum fell in love with it and bought it to house their three tiny children. Mum died, Dad fell into a decline and stopped earning, then took a second wife who ...  Read the complete review

Dodie Smith is probably most well known for writing 101 Dalmatians, however she infact wrote many plays as well as this novel which was first published in 1949. I Capture the Castle draws in many aspects of classics English novels including Jane Eyre, and while the diary form it’s written in certainly isn’t original it still remains a firm favourite of many including myself. Normally I wouldn't have even considered picking up a copy of this book, as on the whole I mainly stick to the crime/thriller genre for reading matter. However I vaguely recalled watching the film a few years ago and loved it, so I was pretty certain that I'd equally enjoy the ...  Read the complete review

The term "children's fiction" is misleading. A good book is one which is still a good book, no matter how old you are when you read it. The very best books written for children or adolescents are often the ones that are also successful with an adult audience. So it was with Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. I opened the book entirely by accident, sighing over the lack of good books in the house that I was staying at. "Dodie Smith wrote 101 Dalmations," my best friend said helpfully. I grimaced. A book by a children's author who inspired a Disney film? But I opened the first page... and was convinced that I Capture the ...  Read the complete review

Flicking through the bookshelves of a high street bookstore a couple of years ago I came across “I Capture The Castle” by Dodie Smith. Although dubbed a “children’s book” something about the novel drew me to it and I decided that I would like to find out more. I received this book the following Christmas and commenced on an often moving, at times frustrating and frequently intriguing journey along with Cassandra, the protagonist of this charming novel. THE PLOT- “I Capture The Castle” draws you in from the start, what other novel begins citing the writer’s location as the kitchen sink? The novel tells the story of Cassandra Mortmain, a seventeen year old ...  Read the complete review

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” So begins Dodie Smith’s charming, timeless novel of adolescent angst and family loyalties. It is hard not to fall immediately in love with a book that begins in such a way, and I defy you not to adore this book, no matter what age you are. You see, until recently, this classic tale of 17 year old Cassandra Mortmain and her struggle to ‘capture’ the essence of her eccentric, bohemian family and the crumbling castle they call home, has often been relegated to ‘teen fiction’ sections in bookshops. The introduction to the Virago Modern Classics edition, by Valerie Grove (who also ...  Read the complete review