She finds out what it's like to decorate one's own home in the manner which she chooses without having to submit all her decisions for some relative's final approval. Ultimately, Valancy's explorations leads her to the alter with one Barney Snaith, a reputed jail bird, according to local town gossip.įor the first time in her life, Valancy knows what it's like to love - and be loved. This prompts Valancy to reject family opinion and counsel and embark on a few adventures to see what life can be like when one is free to explore. The doctor diagnoses her as having a fatal heart disease and advises her to take things as easy as possible. Valancy's real story begins when, believing herself to be as ill as relatives tell her, consults a non-family doctor regarding a heart condition. To Valancy the nature novels were poetry themselves and she longed to know what the author of the books was writing about. She lives in a rut and her life's excitement is wrapped up in nature novels that her aunt allowed her to read only because she thought they were more educational in nature. She is the assumed Old Maid of the family who is carefully guarded from disease and free thoughts. Valancy spends the first 29 years of her life wishing for adventure but being afraid to search for it. While my situation was due to geography, hers was due to a strict upbringing by a mother and various relatives who thought too much on illness as opposed to freedom and exploration.

She grew up in a rather confining environment wherein she was not allowed to romp through forests and skate on frozen lakes. The book's heroine is named Valancy Sterling. Perhaps that's why I liked The Blue Castle as much as I did. It was a little dream of mine to end up living some place where the temperature was cool enough to provoke one to open the windows and let the breeze blow through. I envied Montgomery's characters their freedom in being able to go outside without sweating to death. Growing up in an area of the country that was perpetually hot, I always wondered what it would be like to actually WANT to go and explore the outdoors. The way she describes nature in this book is in keeping with all her other writings. The Blue Castle is Montgomery-ish to its core. I keep hoping for the Undiscovered Manuscript. One of the most fabulous vacations I ever took was a trip to Prince Edward Island where I discovered that the Island that Montgomery wrote about was every bit as lovely as she had ever said. I continue to love the innocence and imagination of Anne. As far as I'm concerned, I will never find another series as captivating as her Anne of Green Gables. Montgomery, as many of you are aware, is my favorite author. It's been a few years since I've picked up this book. I just finished re-reading Montgomery's The Blue Castle.

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge (74).

Lucy maud montgomery the blue castle