While I am familiar with Dodie Smith’s immortal 101 Dalmatians, I had no idea that she had written anything else. Turns out she was quite prolific! One of her notable works is the semi-autobiographical I Capture the Castle. I added it to my list and dove blithely in.
Plot summary
Smith wrote the book while staying in America during WWII. Homesick for Britain, she wrote I Capture the Castle, loosely based on events in her childhood. The book follows Cassandra Mortmain across a year in the 1930s and her strange literary families adventures. The sudden appearance of the rich American owners of the castle she lives in upends Cassandra’s world and precipitates her into adulthood.
Captivating and a little sad
The first person narration of this very domestic story was captivating. It was easy to read and I found Cassandra’s ‘voice’ relatable and accurate. Often she would point out something that I have thought or done myself as a teenager. It made the story feel very real. These characters, for all their oddity, were real people with weakness and foibles all common to the human condition.
Some may find the prose a little too descriptive, but I enjoyed it. The scenes sketched throughout were delightful and sometimes sad. At one point, Cassandra seeks out the local Anglican priest, to ask his advice and find help in her troubles. There Smith seems to brush her fingers along the surface of religion. A tantalising moment sits: will the character turn to God, especially when she is so close to understanding His importance and our relationship to him? I won’t spoil it for you, go read!
Perhaps too precocious?
If I have any issues with this book, it might be a feeling that Cassandra is just a little too precocious. She sees to the heart of other characters quickly and accurately. Even when she is thrown into her own troubles, she is still able to sit outside herself. She can understand her own motives and those of others, even while experiencing a whirlwind of strong emotion. It does not strike me as particularly believable. But I will allow that the almost omniscience of the narrator has been skilfully handled, and the book is not much hurt by it.
I would add that it is sad to see the way that morals are viewed throughout the story, but they are in keeping with the bohemian characters of the book. Certainly, it is phrased carefully and should not greatly shock the reader. But you can’t help feeling that if only Cassandra realised that it didn’t have to be this way… It is a tribute to this book that I wanted to give motherly advice to the young protagonist!
