It Will Capture Your Heart (I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith)

Member Name: lisa2062

Product:	I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Date:	15/09/07 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A well written and believablle story that you'll get so much out of.

Disadvantages: On a couple of occasions the characters did things that seemed unlike them.

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 book.


I Capture the Castle follows the highs and lows of the Mortmain family living in a run down castle in the 1930’s. Seventeen year old Cassandra is the narrator of the novel who wanting to write herself, decides to keep a diary so she can practice her writing skills as well as trying to capture her thoughts and feelings about her life.
Cassandra certainly isn’t stuck for things to write about as her family is anything but normal. Mr Mortmain is on the whole estranged from his family and suffers with writers block. Topaz is his second wife and was once a model, now she spends her days looking after the place and stripping off to be at one with nature.
Rose is Cassandra’s older sister and all she wants is a rich man to marry. Thomas is the youngest but is on the whole mature for his age, and Stephen is a live- in friend of the family and has a huge crush on Cassandra.

Having sold off most of their furniture to pay for food, the future prospects of the family look very bleak.
Hope however is risen upon the arrival of the Cotton’s who have inherited Scoatney Hall, and are now their new landlords. Brothers Neil and Simon along with their mother are a very wealthy family, and money is exactly want the Mortmains could do with.


What struck me first about the novel was the way in which Smith is able in a sense to ‘capture’ England in all its glory, but without brushing over the equally less appealing aspects of the country. This is down to the fact that back in the 40’s she was forced to move to America along with her husband. Clearly homesick for her homeland, Smith penned this novel which even to this day is still popular due to fact that it’s so blatantly honest and real.

While the book is narrated by a seventeen year old teenager, you would be wrong in thinking that this book would only appeal to that group. I myself am in my mid twenties and I got so much out of the book, that I shall definitely be reading again which not something I often find myself doing.

On the offset it’s about a teenage girl maturing into a woman, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The book raises many questions about social class and peoples pre conceptions of foreigners. As well as that it covers how women were perceived back then, and how more were breaking out of their stereotypical mould. If I have made this novel sound a heavy read then for give me as I can assure you it’s not, but it’s just one of those novels that will keep you thinking and questioning things long after you’ve finished it.

The diary format of the book appealed to me when I was about the same age as Cassandra, I too used to keep diaries and would struggle to capture my feelings about certain events and would end up writing as much as I could just like she did in order to try and make sense of things.

While the book is barely over the 400 page mark, by the end of reading it I felt as if I’d been on a rollercoaster of a journey as it manages to invoke so many emotions. On the one hand I found myself sympathizing with the family’s bleak situation, but then quickly turned into admiration due to the fact that they pulled together to make the most of what they did have. So vivid is the castle, its surroundings and the characters themselves, I felt as if I was a fly on the wall looking in on the Mortmains.

While all of the characters were fully developed and well rounded, there were a couple of occasions when I felt that some of them did things that I felt were out of character. For example the fur coat instance springs to mine where Cassandra has already said that they repulse her, but then goes into a shop with her sister and talks about enjoying it. Luckily this only happened every once in a while, so I’m pleased to say it didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment of the book.


It’s fair to say that all of the characters had their annoying habits and peculiar ways, but I never stopped caring about any of them and was eager to find out their fates. I cannot rate this book any more highly and would recommend you at least give this captivating book a try.


My paperback copy was released in 2003 and is available at amazon used and new from 1p.

Summary: One of a rare number books that will take you into it's heart.