I read this book because it is on my Classics List, and also because I have heard so much about it over the years and was curious. And then in September it was the starting book for Six Degrees of Separation, so it seemed like a portent. It was time to give it a try. The book was published in 1948; the author wrote the book during World War II when she was living in the US and homesick for England.
Rose, Cassandra, and Thomas Mortmain live with their father in a decrepit old house that is attached to an equally decrepit castle. The setting is the English countryside in the 1930s. Their mother died after they moved into the castle, and a few years later their father married a younger woman, Topaz, who had worked as a model for artists.
The children's father is a famous author, even more well-known and admired in the US than in England. Yet he has written only one book, cannot get started on a new book, and makes no effort to try to make money in any other way. The family has sold off everything of value they have, and have no money, not even money for food.
Another young man, Stephen, lives with them. He was an orphan and they took him in. Now he is old enough to work at some odd jobs in the village, and he is willing to give the money to the family to buy food. Possibly he does this because he feel indebted to them for their past kindness; possibly it is because he is in love with Cassandra, who does not return his affection, or even realize how he feels at first.
Rose is 20, and beginning to think of marriage as a way to escape poverty. Shortly after the story begins, a new family moves into nearby Scoatney Hall. Simon Cotton has inherited the estate; he and his brother have both been raised in the US, and are very eligible bachelors. The family is mostly excited by this turn of events.
In some ways, this is a very good story, I like the writing style, it is witty and it entertains. The story is told in first person via Cassandra's journal. She is 17 and introspective and trying to figure out who she is, and what she wants out of life.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the story because I could not get past the father's behavior. He is negligent and antisocial and does not encourage the family to get involved in events in the village. Cassandra loves him and worries about him, but he just hides out in his study. I did not grow to care about any of the characters except for Cassandra and Thomas. Thomas does go to school and has friends, so he is not too badly affected by the problems the family has, although a growing boy does need food.
I stayed with this book because I hoped it would improve or that the ending would make up for my reaction to the earlier sections. I have read so many favorable reviews of the book. There were things I liked: the many literary references; the contrasts between American customs and British customs; the humor. I liked Miss Marcy, the village librarian and school mistress. I don't regret reading this book, but overall, it was a disappointment.
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Publisher: Wednesday Books, 2017 (orig. pub. 1948).
Length: 390 pages
Format: Hardcover
Setting: UK, English countryside and London
Genre: Fiction, Classic
Source: I purchased this book.
21 comments:
It's years since I read this so my memory of it is vague but I do remember that like you the father drove me insane. Good writing, as you said, but not as special as I'd been led to believe.
I know just what you mean, Tracy, about one character making it impossible for you to enjoy the rest of the story. I've read books like that, too. Still, the premise sounds good, and I can see how the storyline and wit might appeal.
I tried to read this one once but ended up DNFing it; I think I was too young to stick with characters I didn't really like. I might try it again someday.
Cath, I have read other stories where families did not have enough to eat, but in those cases the parents were trying hard to provide for them. In this situation I could not stop focusing on the father's behavior. That wasn't the only problem in the story, but it was the one that disturbed me.
Margot, many readers over the years have read this book and loved it, and reread it regularly. It just didn't work for me.
Lark, I actually think I might like this better on a reread. I just don't know if I will ever want to reread it. The copy I have is lovely and has a good introduction. My rule is to finish a classic book once I start it, but I am sure I would break that rule if I was too unhappy with a book. In this case I did need to know how it ended.
This is one of my favourite books of all time, and I have read it many times. But as I may have said before, perhaps you have to be the right age when you first read it? I was Cassandra's age and it was perfect for me! I do know what you mean about Mortmain... I can just about get over that, but I can see not everyone can.
There is a very good film of it, with Bill Nighy doing his best with the father. I am often very unsure about adaptations of my favourite books, but I liked this one.
Hi there, Tracy! I'm finally coming back around to comment on blogs and hope to update mine very soon. We've had a lot of things going on in the last few months. Anyway, I have not read this book and probably won't at this point. Happy November!
Hi Tracy, I have also been hearing for decades about I Capture The Castle. I have not read it but one thing that interested me is that it's written in journal form. I really enjoy diaries, fiction or nonfiction. But the book does sound depressing because the father is not doing what he needs to do to help his family and it sounds like they are practically starving. It reminds me to a certain extent of how Louisa May Alcott's father ran his household. The Alcotts lived in poverty even worse than anything depicted in Little Women
I never tried it when young, since ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS and its sequel THE TWILIGHT BARKING were the more prominently handy Smith volumes...in those, there's no little qausi-parental cruelty (of characters who are Not Quite Parents, but those who would threaten the pups and their parents), leading me to wonder if Smith was exorcising some demons of her own.
The folktale tradition certainly has enough of them...
Thanks for the review!
And, too sadly, we're seeing quite the parade of widely-admired/loved (or worshiped) malignant narcissists infest the national and world political scene, among others.
I don't know of this one, and I'm sorry that it ended up disappointing you. I do like a lot of what you said about the characters and the plot before I realized where you were heading with your overall impression of the book...now I'm disappointed, too. LOL
Sam, The book has a lot of good points, and many readers would not be so bothered as I was by the father. It is an interesting picture of the times.
Moira, I really do wonder how I would have liked the book at that age. I probably would have focused on other aspects of the story at seventeen than I did in my seventies, so it might have worked fine for me then. And I don't know why I was so bothered by Mortmain.
I will look into the film. For me, Bill Nighy is an actor who is good in everything he does, so it would be good to see what he does with that role.
Kay, I am so glad to hear from you. And I saw your comment at Lesa's blog too. I do hope you do some blog posts, I love to hear about your reading and what you have been up to. But as far as blogging goes, you have to do what works for you.
Kathy, since you like diaries you would probably like this book, and it is worth a try. That is very interesting about Louisa May Alcott's father. I probably would not enjoy reading her biography either, except that maybe the father would be less of a focus.
Todd, I would like to try more books by Dodie Smith. It looks like I Capture the Castle was her first novel, and most of her other novels were written in the 60s and 70s.
Glen also mentioned that the father seemed like a narcissist, and his actions did fit many characteristics of that personality disorder.
Kathy's comparison to the Alcotts was a good point. Bronson definitely was a narcissist, and the family's poverty was in part due to his "high ideals." (OK, he was trying to create a Utopia, but it sure didn't turn out that way!) At least Mr Mortmain wasn't doing that to his family, despite his negligence. I had an impression the Mortmain girls got a little too man-crazy after the Americans arrived, but there is something a little like Austen in the way Rose at least saw marriage as an urgent economic necessity. I can't remember if the family were actually aristocrats, but they seemed to be above letting their womenfolk get jobs!
Marty, now I remember reading a little bit about Bronson Alcott and Utopia. The Alcotts were an interesting family.
I don't think the Mortmain family had any connections to aristocracy, just had had money for a while from Mortmain's book and speaking engagements. But they had been used to having money. But I am quick to forget details, so I am not sure.
Comparisons were made to Austen's book, both in the book and in reviews.
The comparison of Mr. Mortmain to Bronson Alcott is interesting. I am decidedly not a Bronson fan but I will give him credit for his ideals while Mr. Mortmain is just selfish.
I somehow never was aware of this book growing up and while I liked it as an adult, I am sure I would have liked it more if I had read it as a teen. But what bothered me (if I remember correctly) was didn't Cassandra love Simon but he loved her sister? Admittedly, she was too young to get married but I don't think that Thomas was suitable.
While it's true the sisters became boy crazy (like the Bennets), they had nothing else to distract them! I'll give them a pass on that.
Constance, the Mortmains are certainly a very interesting fictional family. I agree, the father was selfish. Everything was about him.
The romantic relationships were complicated. If I had been the sisters ages and in their situation, I probably would have been boy crazy also, although I think Rose was more interested in escaping poverty than anything else. I thought the ending was realistic, and satisfied me, and I was emotional at the end.
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