Blue Castle

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Ned - Dr. Trent's son. He was injured in a terrible automobile accident in Montreal during Valancy's first appointment and showered on her everything she didn't want. He had killed her—quite legally. She had been smothered and starved" (Chapter 10; Once Valancy gets her misdiagnosis and decides to cut loose, the fun really gets going. When she doesn't give a hoot about What People Think, she does it big time. It's sheer bliss watching her at her first horrible family dinner as a free woman. that ridiculed Dr. Redfern's remedies (Chapter 42). Later, Barney got honors at McGill University (Chapter 38). He fell in love with Ethel Traverse and Ah, now you have it," said Barney. "That's all the freedom we can hope for—the freedom to choose our prison.

The Blue Castle is a 1926 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, best known for her novel Anne of Green Gables. (Summary adapted from ALA Booklist)

Colleen McCullough, author of The Thorn Birds, evidently used The Blue Castle as the basis of her novel The Ladies of Missalonghi—subconsciously, as she alleged—to the point of provoking accusations of plagiarism. [2] Plot summary [ edit ] Barney reconciles with his father but will not live with him; they will build a home of their own out in the country, but near enough to visit. Meanwhile Barney and Valancy prepare to go on an autumn world tour, knowing their summer home on Barney's small island - the 'Blue Castle' - will be waiting for them.

scream out in pain. When Valancy got into trouble, she explained to Aunt Isabel that Byron had pinched her. He lied, and Valancy was sent home in disgrace because "boys were always believed before the girls" in the Stirling clan (Chapter 8). Benjamin says, "He talked all his life exactly as Valancy did today...And he believed he was his own great-grandfather born again. I heard him say it. Don't tell me that a man who believes a thing like that was ever in his right senses" (Chapter 11; 68). When Uncle Benjamin says that Valancy is acting like her Grandfather, she takes it as a compliment because, "He was one of the few human beings I have known—almost the only one" (Chapter 13; 72). Relevant University regulations for reassessment can be found here. Please select the relevant section depending on the type of degree and the relevant year of entry onto the course. The resit information can be found under the “Reassessment” section.

Valancy’s inspiring story is a beautiful reminder of how there is no such thing as wasted time — that no matter how ‘old’ or ‘late’ we may be, we can always start taking ownership of our own lives and live the one we’ve always desired or dreamed of having,” Scott Aharoni said in a statement. dislikes him, but still respects him. He had a "sarcastic, trap-like mouth and iron-grey side-burns," and

This is the sort of book that makes me so glad to be a reader. Montgomery is an EXTREMELY talented and beautiful writer. Recently I've been finding myself wanting to read more of her work because it's honestly like a balm. There's a feeling I would get very often as a child when I was discovering the world of literature and everything was fresh and new; it's a feeling that as an adult I rarely get close to reliving, but in this book I did see some glimmers of it. Much of Blue Castle is a tale of constant misery. Valancy Stirling, written off as an old maid at 29, lives in the early 20th century in the small town of Deerwood in Ontario, Canada. She shares a house with her overbearing, passive-aggressive mother and a middle-aged, widowed cousin among members of their extended "clan." One day, she receives news that she has a terminal illness, and has just a year or so to live. This immediately transforms her entire perception on life, so can you guess what happens? She starts to live it. Valency starts being Valency, not the obeying dutiful daughter or woman who is ignored and shoved in the corner. She does things that she wants to do when she wants to do them, but best of all, she finally finds her voice that has been dormant for so long. The speaking of ones mind is an art that should be practiced daily. Pass it on.

avoids this short cut home from town because it's full of young couples and pairs of girls sharing secrets. Seeing them makes Valancy "self-conscious The metaphor of the blue castle spoke to me. We all need a blue castle in our lives, a place where we can go to feel true happiness, a retreat away from the disappointments and expectations of the world, and others' judgments and requirements for us. As I read this book, I wondered where my blue castle was. I got the answer to that question, and it made me smile. will be the first to go next'" (Chapter 1). Cousin Georgiana is "very dreary," and "The only thing she really enjoyed was a funeral" because "You knew where you One of her favourite escapes, too, was reading John Foster's nature books, which truly freed her soul and let her marvel and wonder over nature's beautiful gifts. With John Foster, one felt such a oneness with nature and a satisfying sense of well-being that it was impossible to resist dreaming. a dance there that becomes rowdy, "noisy and reeking." When a drunk, predatory man and his friends target Valancy, Barney

Valency then takes us on an adventure to her beloved Blue Castle, a place in her dreams which she visits when life becomes too unbearable. A place of calm, comfort and beauty which she created, and that is what makes it so special. I think we all have a place like that, whether it be in our minds, or reality. My place of calm is the forest. Valancy had lived spiritually in the Blue Castle ever since she could remember. She had been a very tiny child when she found herself possessed of it. Always, when she shut her eyes, she could see it plainly, with its turrets and banners on the pine-clad mountain height, wrapped in its faint, blue loveliness, against the sunset skies of a fair and unknown land. Everything wonderful and beautiful was in that castle. Jewels that queens might have worn; robes of moonlight and fire; couches of roses and gold; long flights of shallow marble steps, with great, white urns, and with slender, mist-clad maidens going up and down them; courts, marble-pillared, where shimmering fountains fell and nightingales sang among the myrtles; halls of mirrors that reflected only handsome knights and lovely women--herself the loveliest of all, for whose glance men died. All that supported her through the boredom of her days was the hope of going on a dream spree at night. Most, if not all, of the Stirlings would have died of horror if they had known half the things Valancy did in her Blue Castle."- Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Blue Castle Clayton - a man engaged to Jennie Lloyd, who built a house for her and furnished it in readiness for their marriage (Chapterbut Cissy refused, knowing that he no longer loved her. A few nights after telling her story to Valancy, Cissy dies (Chapter 22). Cissy Dr. - a successful businessman and millionaire who sells medicines and cure-alls for various ailments. He is Barney's father. He is described as a "stout, short, pudgy man, with a broad, Oddly enough, this death sentence frees Valancy from her miserable existence. With nothing to lose, she starts sassing her ice-cold mother and relatives, begins wearing "unsuitable" clothing, moves out of the family home, and generally starts doing what she wants to without a thought for propriety. It's lovely to see her bloom and gain confidence, and begin to seek out happiness and love on her own terms. And eventually (I won't spoil the story by going into the hows and whys) she finds a home in a cottage by the lake that reminds her of her beloved Blue Castle.