Just call me Valancy
I suspect there are reasons why The Blue Castle is not one of Lucy Maude Montgomery's better-known books. It's a little ... well, melodramatic. But I've never been one to mind melodrama.
I loved the Anne books (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, etc.), too. I have red hair and liked to read and use big words when I was little (and now, for that matter), and I fancied myself imaginative. So Anne was my hero. But there was a period of several years when I was a teenager that I really believe I read The Blue Castle once a month. I definitely remember at least one time that I finished it and immediately flipped back to the beginning.
It's been years now since I read it, but I've been in the mood lately to go back to it. Chances are you haven't read it, so here are the broad strokes:
We meet Valancy on the eve of her 29th birthday. She's an old maid and unhappy about it -- not so much because she wants so badly to be married, but because she's never had a choice in the matter. No one's ever asked. She's also been having this funny pain around her heart, so she decides to go to the doctor. The doctor tells her it's a fatal condition, and that she likely has at most a year to live. And, of course, that changes everything.
A little silly, I know. But in the very best of ways. As I said, lately I've been wanting to reread it. I turned 27 last month, and am beginning to feel a little like an old maid myself. Everyone I know got married last summer, and so they're all celebrating their first anniversaries and buying houses now. I know that 27 is still young, but, as Valancy says, "Yes, I'm 'still young'--but that's so different from young." And the whole "no one's ever asked" thing is starting to sting a bit, too.
Most of the time this doesn't bother me much, but then I get on one of those kicks where I'm on the look out for a husband -- ANY husband -- around every corner. And every chubby baby makes my stomach clench with envy. I've noticed that these tend to be times when work is hard, and work has been very hard the past month or two. Possibly it's a throw back to wanting a man to take care of you? There are times I love my job, and times when I'd marry a rich man just so that I could sleep in every day.
Anyway. I don't think I'm giving away much if I tell you that everything turns out blindingly bright for Valancy. (Lucy Maud Montgomery was decades ahead of her time in terms of chic lit.) And I'm choosing to believe that my Barney (I know! what a name for a hero) is out there. Though I'd prefer not to have to be diagnosed with a fatal heart condition to be prodded into finding him.
I feel like I should wrap this up by making some sort of declaration about how I'm going to go out there and find my Barney. But actually, my main reason for posting was this: Having decided I wanted to reread The Blue Castle, I was dismayed to find that I've hidden the book somewhere where I can't find it. (I *never* get rid of a book, so I know it isn't gone forever.)
But luckily LM Montgomery seems to have passed the confines of copyright. The Blue Castle can be read here! As can Anne of Green Gables! And probably lots of other books that I haven't checked for yet! Isn't that exciting! It's all the convenience and low cost (i.e.: free) of fanfiction, but no longer limited to actual fanfiction!
I love the Internet.
(Now, having written this, I'm wondering if I'm using the word melodrama correctly. Maybe I just mean overdramatic? Feel free to correct me if this is the case.)
I loved the Anne books (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, etc.), too. I have red hair and liked to read and use big words when I was little (and now, for that matter), and I fancied myself imaginative. So Anne was my hero. But there was a period of several years when I was a teenager that I really believe I read The Blue Castle once a month. I definitely remember at least one time that I finished it and immediately flipped back to the beginning.
It's been years now since I read it, but I've been in the mood lately to go back to it. Chances are you haven't read it, so here are the broad strokes:
We meet Valancy on the eve of her 29th birthday. She's an old maid and unhappy about it -- not so much because she wants so badly to be married, but because she's never had a choice in the matter. No one's ever asked. She's also been having this funny pain around her heart, so she decides to go to the doctor. The doctor tells her it's a fatal condition, and that she likely has at most a year to live. And, of course, that changes everything.
A little silly, I know. But in the very best of ways. As I said, lately I've been wanting to reread it. I turned 27 last month, and am beginning to feel a little like an old maid myself. Everyone I know got married last summer, and so they're all celebrating their first anniversaries and buying houses now. I know that 27 is still young, but, as Valancy says, "Yes, I'm 'still young'--but that's so different from young." And the whole "no one's ever asked" thing is starting to sting a bit, too.
Most of the time this doesn't bother me much, but then I get on one of those kicks where I'm on the look out for a husband -- ANY husband -- around every corner. And every chubby baby makes my stomach clench with envy. I've noticed that these tend to be times when work is hard, and work has been very hard the past month or two. Possibly it's a throw back to wanting a man to take care of you? There are times I love my job, and times when I'd marry a rich man just so that I could sleep in every day.
Anyway. I don't think I'm giving away much if I tell you that everything turns out blindingly bright for Valancy. (Lucy Maud Montgomery was decades ahead of her time in terms of chic lit.) And I'm choosing to believe that my Barney (I know! what a name for a hero) is out there. Though I'd prefer not to have to be diagnosed with a fatal heart condition to be prodded into finding him.
I feel like I should wrap this up by making some sort of declaration about how I'm going to go out there and find my Barney. But actually, my main reason for posting was this: Having decided I wanted to reread The Blue Castle, I was dismayed to find that I've hidden the book somewhere where I can't find it. (I *never* get rid of a book, so I know it isn't gone forever.)
But luckily LM Montgomery seems to have passed the confines of copyright. The Blue Castle can be read here! As can Anne of Green Gables! And probably lots of other books that I haven't checked for yet! Isn't that exciting! It's all the convenience and low cost (i.e.: free) of fanfiction, but no longer limited to actual fanfiction!
I love the Internet.
(Now, having written this, I'm wondering if I'm using the word melodrama correctly. Maybe I just mean overdramatic? Feel free to correct me if this is the case.)