Bought this book at the Secret Garden Bookshop in Seattle. Had never heard of it before; discovered it via those little hand-written "Staff Picks" tags stuck to the shelves. Also, the giant J.K. Rowling blurb on the cover was hard to miss: "This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met."And I agree with Ms. Rowling. Cassandra Mortmain is a wonderful narrator, full of contrasts (blunt/poetic, naive/wordly), never insincere, and always well aware of her own shortcomings. The early chapters seem very Austen-ish (Cassandra herself draws parallels between her family and the Bennets), but as the novel wends its way through unrequited love and happily-ever-after-ness, it also becomes a meditation on religion, creativity, love, and beauty. I doubt I'm explaining it well. It doesn't seem at all contrived.Highly recommended.Added: Cassandra's dog, Heloise, made me think of this photo. ( )

Really enjoyed this coming of age book! Nice pace to the book. Great book for busy times. Enough going on in the book to keep one's interest... not so much that one has difficulty keeping up with it. It's just right. Fun book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were memorable and eccentric. It had an innocence and sweetness to the writing and the romance was just that it was a very romantic book. I was disappointed that the ending left me unfulfilled, it was too open-ended and felt almost rushed. ( )

Dodie Smith wrote "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" - my very favorite Disney movie, by the way, and also the best argument I've ever seen for the nuclear family. But that was a bit of a one-off - she was actually a rather well-known playwright, and had minor success as a novelist as well. I've read one of her other novels and it was sort of lame. But "I Capture the Castle" is delightful.

The castle in question is a ruined one, currently inhabited by the Mortmain family, headed by Mr. Mortmain, a vaguely Joycean novelist who has not published a word in fifteen years or paid rent in four.I wou Consequent to his failure to earn, his family - 21-year-old Rose (beautiful and hungry), 17 year old Cassandra (curious and philosophical), 15-year-old Thomas (cheerful and oblivious) and the beautiful Topaz, stepmother to the children - are all trying to subsist on a non-existent income. Cassandra, a budding writer (hate that phrase) is trying to "capture" this strange and rather dream-like existence in the pages of her journal. Cassandra reminds me a bit of Joan Wyndham's "Love Letters"; she writes with that same mixture of naivite and pragmatism, laced with understated wit - I was on her side from the word Go.

This would never be a desert-island book for me, but sometimes it is exactly the atmosphere I want. I would read it just for the descriptions of Topaz and her pseudo-intellectual commentaries on Art. "Oh, what worlds words weave!" says Cassandra, and I'm right there with her. It's lovely to visit the castle. ( )

Cassandra and her family live in a large, rather decrepit house built out of the remains of a castle. She and her family - sister Rose, brother Thomas, stepmother Topaz, father, and friend/servant Stephen - are all falling into decay along with the building. They have lived on the remains of her father's career as a writer, but for years he has written nothing else, and now the royalties have stopped coming in. Then a new family moves into the estate next door.

The new heir is an American, Simon, with a brother named Neil. They are both young and handsome. Rose decides the best way out of their problems is to marry one of them. What happens next, as told by Cassandra in her diary, is not completely smooth sailing.

I enjoyed this book. I liked Cassandra a lot. She's a very appealing character, honest and loyal, pretty clear-headed. But I was a little disappointed by the ending.

And what's with these folks? Why didn't Rose, or the father, or Cassandra, any of them show a little independence and GET A JOB? That's what most people do when they need money - they work! Odd.