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I Capture the Castle
Dodie Smith. St. Martin's Griffin: 1998 (paperback). ISBN: 0312181108. 343 pages.
Guide not available
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J.K. Rowling raves that "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met." If the unparalleled popularity of Rowling's main character (some boy named Harry Potter) is any indication, it would appear that she knows a thing or two about charisma. As it happens, we couldn't agree more--you'll find it hard not to fall in love with seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and with her delicious account of life in a most unconventional British family.
True, the Mortmains live in a castle, but they're wearing the rags of clothing purchased in an earlier decade, and wondering about the exact whereabouts of their next meal. As Cassandra decides to devote herself to writing, hoping to pick up a literary career like the one her father has so inexplicably left off, a new family moves into the neighborhood and provides ample material for her diary. Originally published in 1948, and brought back into print to the thunderous gratitude of worshipful readers the world round, I Capture the Castle is a reading experience utterly unlike any other we have encountered. It's one of those awesome family stories that might have earned your undying loyalty as a youngster, but it's clever enough to capture even the most sophisticated reader long past the coming of age. Oh, and for extra incentive, the movie is coming out this month too. As seen on Ellen on Seven and featured in LATELIES.
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