The hidden literary treasure of "The Blue Castle"

There was a point in my adolescence that I owned virtually every paperback penned by L.M. Montgomery. (I have since grown out of that phase in my readership, and gave away most of them to other adolescent readers I knew would appreciate them.)  I read the classic Anne series, the slightly less-known Emily of New Moon trilogy, Jane of Lantern Hill (which, as I recall, has a rather good adaptation floating around out there starring Sam Waterson...but I digress) and several of her short-story anthologies. But far and away my favorite work of Montgomery’s is The Blue Castle. Unlike her famous Anne and Emily series, this novel is written for adults, centered on adult characters, and deals with much more mature—and, in my opinion, deeper—themes.

At twenty-nine, old maid Valancy Stirling is plain in appearance and oppressed in spirit.  Her gloriously unpleasant family taunts, teases, and maligns her at every opportunity, led by her gargoyle of a mother and her beautiful cousin Olive. Her only reprieve from her depressing and colorless existence comes from her imagination (she has invented a fantasy world where she escapes from her family to a “Blue Castle,” is an empowered beautiful woman, and has a prince charming that loves her) and the novels of a naturalist named John Foster.

As if her life could not get any worse, Valancy secretly goes to a doctor about a pain in her chest and is diagnosed with a heart condition that gives her only a year left to live. This is almost a relief to Valancy: she had dreaded the oncoming, tedious years ahead, and now she doesn’t have to fear that. This freedom from the future gives her the courage to stand up to her relatives. She leaves her mother, gets a job, and begins to associate with…well, all the “wrong types of people.” Her job is as a housekeeper for a drunkard. The drunkard’s ruined daughter is living with him, dying of the Victorian Cough of Convenience. Valancy befriends both, along with the mysterious ne’er-do-well Barney Snaith, with whom she falls unrequitedly in love.

Valancy had never really lived in all her twenty-nine years at home. Now she determines not to waste any more time. She proposes to Barney—she knows he doesn’t love her, but she asks him as a friend to marry her for a year until she dies—and he accepts. I can’t tell you any more: there are too many secrets that are discovered, identities revealed, and surprises in store for any reader who can get their hands on a copy of The Blue Castle.

Reading this book was a transition from me reading Anne of Green Gables to Wuthering Heights. The Blue Castle is about remembering your mortality in order to motivate yourself to live life to its fullest, without leaving this world with any regrets. It’s about loving others unconditionally, no matter whether Society values certain individuals or not. It’s about honesty and sacrifice and how often those two coincide.

 

Recommended Reading Age: 13+

Parental Notes: As I said above, there is a character who is a drunkard, and his daughter became pregnant out of wedlock.  Also there is the constant threat of Valancy’s heart condition that might be too tense for some younger readers.
Availability:  The paperbacks available all have extremely goofy and misleading covers that deserve their own blog entry on their ridiculousness.  If you get the hardcover edition, though, you will have earned my voracious envy.