A castle, young men, a diary... (I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith)

Member Name: Parisjetaime

Product:	I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Date:	12/09/01 (230 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ecellent and fast-paced story, well drawn characters

Disadvantages: Sometimes the period it is set in (the 1930s?) seems a bit too far away

Firstly, this book is nothing like the famous '101 Dalmations'. It is not about dogs, for a start.

The story focusses on the Mortmain family, which is composed of the father (referred to as 'Mortmain'), his wife, Topaz (an eccentric model who likes to walk around naked), and his children from an earlier marriage: Rose (beautiful and ambitious), Cassandra (the rather ordinary heroine) and Thomas (eternally hungry schoolboy).

As a result of the stunning success of Mortmain's debut novel, 'Jacob wrestling', the family live in a rented castle. Unfortunately, as this novel was written 13 years ago and Mortmain hasn't written anything since, the money they once had is running out rapidly, leading to imaginative ways of economy. Perhaps the most enterprising of these is Rose's plan to marry the eldest of two rich American brothers, who own the castle.

Throughout all this Cassandra narrates events, experiences and feelings in her diary. Over the course of a year and a half she records how the fortunes of the family proceed, how she tastes champagne, how she falls in love, how she rebuffs the love of another, how she learns about her sister's love of money and how her father begins to write again.

Every part of the story rings true. The characters are carefully drawn and very realistic, particularly that of Cassandra.
She even lies in her diary - haven't we all done that?

This book shouldn't strictly be placed in the children's section, because it is written in an adult manner and touches upon adult issues. In my local library it is placed in the adult fiction section. So don't let the fact that it is often classed as teenage fiction put you off!

Summary: