I was introduced to The Blue Castle in my first semester at university. I was living on the same floor in residence as Rachel, and at that point in time I hadn’t read much by LMM other than the Anne and Emily books and a few short story books. In typical Rachel fashion, she was on her perpetual crusade to spread the love of awesome books. She lent me her copy of The Blue Castle, and I fell in love instantly. I have reread it countless times, yet for some reason I have never blogged about it. What a tragedy! That is being remedied immediately.

This is one of Montgomery’s few books that focuses on an adult character. It’s definitely got the same innocence and goodness that is apparent from her other books, only this time it’s about a bunch of adults. Valancy is, however, very much like a child in some aspects. She’s 29, but she’s still very innocent and naive. She led a fairly sheltered life up until the point when the book begins; it isn’t until she is told that she has about a year to live that she finally actually starts living.

See, Valancy has been spending her life trying to please her mother, her uncles, her aunts, and basically everyone but herself. After making a secret trip to visit the doctor, and being told that she has (at most) a year to live, Valancy decides to stop trying to please everyone else in her life, and to spend the rest of her life doing what SHE wants. Of course, she’s not a bad sort, so one of the first big things she does is go and nurse sweet little Ceclia Gay, who happens to be dying of consumption. And THAT is where she meets the dashing, yet dangerous (if you are to believe all the rumours you hear) Barney Snaith.

And we all love Barney.

Most of this book has a feeling of bittersweetness throughout the book. Valancy is finally learning to live when she believes she won’t be alive for much longer. But, true to LMM fashion, it has a lovely, happy, and completely satisfying ending. (Cannot spoil, cannot spoil, but oh this book makes me want to squeal sometimes.)

There is just so much wonderfulness going on in this book that it’s hard to know where to start. But let us start with Barney, because he is wonderful. A guy who owns his own island in Ontario – with a small cottage on it. How lovely! A guy who is a secretly an author. (A guy who is also secretly the son of a billionaire but that’s not really part of his charm.) He comes across as dangerous, he is rumoured to be a murderer and all sorts of other bad stuff, but he’s rather … harmless. And lovely.

Valancy herself is brilliant. She grows so much in this book. So much character development; I love it! Even her family starts to realize what a capable woman Valancy has become, that she is no longer a child, and that she is so much more than they had always thought she was.

And the scenery – ah! Would love love love to go up to Barney’s island. Unlike what we normally expect from LMM, this one doesn’t take place at all on the East Coast – instead, it’s all in Ontario. The Muskoka-ish area. Which is lovely. So although I can’t smell the sea permeating through the book, I can definitely smell that woodsy smell. Ah!

I love this book; I really, really do. And I have satisfied my craving for this book for another year. Then I will probably need to pull it out again.

Bottom Line: If you haven’t, read it. It’s brilliant and wonderful and positively lovely.