Reader discussion: The Blue Castle: a novel

Public reader discussion about The Blue Castle: a novel in the WeRead Catalog by L. M. Montgomery.

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

By ivory-lynx67

I haven’t really been reading much this past year, and I picked this up because someone suggested it, and honestly I didn’t think it would feel so personal. It’s a short book and pretty easy/fun to read, but what caught me off guard most was how much I related to Valancy. If you’ve ever felt stuck trying to be yourself while dealing with family expectations and not wanting to let people down, I think this one would hit pretty hard. Seeing Valancy slowly come into herself and stop apologizing for it honestly made me happy, and even though I’m nowhere near that brave yet, it was comforting to watch her do it. It ended up being emotional, dramatic, and funny all at once, and I loved it more than I expected. It is an older book from the 1920s so the writing feels different than what you’d read now, but I still really enjoyed it. Anyway, that’s my little ramble 🫶 Also it’s set in the early 1900s, and Valancy is like 29 and her relatives keep making her feel bad for not being married, being ugly, and being boring, and she never really pushes back, just stays quiet and agreeable. Then she finds out she’s sick and only has about a year left, and that’s when things really start because she stops caring what her family thinks. She realizes she’s basically never lived for herself and doesn’t want to die without ever being happy. I know that sounds sad, but I swear it’s actually a pretty happy story overall, and once Valancy starts standing up for herself it gets really funny.

The Blue Castle

By QuietHawk4559

Really loved this book! I think I enjoyed it even more than the Emily ones. It was such an easy, feel-good read. And it has a nice message about living like you might not have forever. If you love Anne, I’d definitely recommend it. Plus it’s on Kindle Unlimited too.

Reading The Blue Castle

By sageShelf2006

I’m just starting The Blue Castle, and honestly I think it’s up there with the Anne and Emily books. It could even end up being my favorite L. M. Montgomery novel. Does anyone else feel that way too?

I just read The Blue Castle and it was absolutely the best gateway into the romance genre for me

By Bottle66

Just finished The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery like the title says. This was actually my first romance book, and I usually steer clear of them because they feel too sugary or just aren’t really my thing, but this one honestly made me rethink that a lot. If you haven’t read it, it follows Valancy, a pretty ordinary maid, and how she ends up finding love and trying to keep hold of it. I flew through it and kept hoping everything would work out okay for everyone by the end. I feel like this was one of those books where I was basically wishing on every page for a happy ending, because anything else would’ve felt awful. The quick descriptions, the way time moves, and the character growth all really worked for me. And yeah, there were a few clichés, I guess, even if some of them didn’t feel totally expected, but I kind of liked them because they fit the story well. For people who’ve read it, what did you think?

How can I want to rate a book 5 stars and 1 star at the same time? The Blue Castle LM Montgomery

By glimmer_ocean49

Spoiler warning! I just finished The Blue Castle on my Kindle the other day and when Goodreads asked for a star rating, I honestly had no idea what to do. Was it a five-star read? I mean, the writing was gorgeous. Montgomery made everything feel so vivid and real, like I was actually spending that whole year in Muskoka. I was there in my head, hiking around, watching the seasons change, all of it. And that ending! It was basically the perfect happy ending. But then was it a one-star read? Because the main people in it really bothered me. They seem sweet on the surface, but then there’s this nasty streak underneath. Valancy especially. I felt so bad for her at the start, stuck with that awful family and constantly put down by them. I really wanted her to get away from all that. But when she finally gets her moment, it feels like she turns into them? Her “freedom” and “strength” are mostly her making fun of her cousin’s smile, her uncle’s jokes, and some widow’s big family. At first I thought, okay, maybe this is just bitterness and she’ll move past it. She’ll find herself. It’s ugly, but maybe it’s temporary. Fine. Keep going. Then more family shows up, like Aunt Georgianna, who seemed genuinely kind and wanted good things for Valancy. And Valancy still treats them like a joke too, laughing at them and looking down on them like a teenager. Then comes her time at The Blue Castle, and I thought, okay, this is where the growth happens. It didn’t really matter anyway because she and Barney were off together, and it all felt so lovely and right. And then Barney’s big reveal hit, and I was honestly upset by it. I figured he’d turn out to be the famous John Foster, so that part wasn’t the shock. What got me was the whole eleven years of just abandoning his father, who was loving and lonely and apparently devoted to him. Like, you couldn’t write a decent letter, Barney? You’re an author. You couldn’t visit once in a while? You just left him there. No real empathy, no regret. But sure, you’ll take his money so you and your wife can live in your fantasy world and travel around. It just made him feel like a huge red flag to me. I would not feel safe marrying that guy at all. And there’s basically no time left in the book for that to get addressed. And it doesn’t. As long as Barney and Valancy are in their little “we’re not like everyone else” world, their complete lack of compassion and their inability to keep healthy relationships just sort of doesn’t matter. I kept thinking, what happens if they have kids who aren’t exact copies of them? They really don’t seem capable of loving anyone who doesn’t reflect them back. Anyway, that’s my rant. I probably won’t even rate it because I’m not sure how I feel. It got under my skin way too much for me to just toss it a normal three stars.

"The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery: brilliant novel about the ACoN experience, written in 1926 (xpost to RBNbooks)

By KLost9

I dug around and couldn’t find any earlier mention of The Blue Castle on RBN, so I figured I’d bring up the gem I just found. Lucy Maud Montgomery is the same author who wrote Anne of Green Gables, if that helps place her. The Blue Castle centers on Valancy, a 29-year-old woman who’s still unmarried and stuck living with her family. Her uncle keeps making old maid jokes, her cousin Stickles watches everything she does, and her mom gaslights her constantly. Then Valancy gets told she has a serious illness and only has about a year left, so she decides not to tell her family and just live that last year however she wants. First thing she does is insist they use her real name instead of the family nickname, “Doss.” After that she kind of goes for it and totally takes apart the family dinner by speaking up to each of them. Later she thinks back: Suddenly she found herself laughing. That dinner had been fun. And it had all been so simple. She had merely said the things she had always thought. Their faces! Uncle Benjamin--poor, flabbergasted Uncle Benjamin! Valancy felt quite sure he would make a new will that very night. Olive would get Valancy's share of his fat hoard. Olive had always got Valancy's share of everything. Remember the dust-pile. To laugh at her whole family the way she’d always wanted to is about the only enjoyment she thinks she has left, but she also thinks it’s kind of sad that it has come to that. She wonders if she’s allowed to feel sorry for herself when no one else will. The rest gets into some fantasy/adventure stuff I’m not going to spoil, especially since it’s free online. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200951h.html Also, the fact that this was written nearly 100 years ago makes it even creepier. Valancy would fit right in on RBN.

When is The Blue Castle set?

By amberfrog40

I love The Blue Castle, but I’ve never been able to tell if it’s meant to be set before or after WWI, and I’m hoping someone can clear it up for me. Since it came out in 1926, it has to be sometime before the mid-20s at the latest. I’ve usually figured it was the early 20s because of the clothes descriptions, Dr. Redfern’s slang, and all the cars and movies. But then Valancy had her hair long way before that was trendy — I’m not even sure when bobbed hair became a thing, but definitely before the book was published — and there’s no mention of Barney or Cecil being in the war, and you’d think WWI would have affected even the Deerwood Stirlings somehow...

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables/Anne with an E)

By Sonnet_Hardcover77

This past year I got really into the amazing Emily of New Moon books, and I posted about it here. Someone told me to try The Blue Castle by the same author, and honestly I’m so grateful to that person because I think I found a new favorite book (sorry Jane Eyre, your spot is in danger). I’m planning to read the whole Lucy M. M. collection now because I just love everything she wrote. Her style feels so different, and I absolutely love how much nature is part of it. I remember starting this book and being kind of thrown off that there wasn’t much nature stuff at first, but then once Valancy gets to Blue Castle, oh my god. It felt like a dream. I loved Valancy and I loved basically all the characters in this one. The family gatherings were really fun to read because they felt so well done. The people in this book just feel so real. I think this is one of Lucy’s books where even the side characters have a lot of depth. I saw some negative takes on Goodreads about the plot being unrealistic and giving young women the wrong expectations, but I mean, this is a STORY. It’s not real life, and obviously there are some risks when you decide to leave your house lol. Valancy was such a refreshing heroine to me. She gave me big Fanny Price vibes, but I liked her even more. And that part where she starts putting people in their place? Oh my god, I was living for it. So yeah, what Lucy M. book should I read next? I’ve read the Emily trilogy, the first Anne book, and this one :)