sevenstories’ #CBR4 Review #47: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Argh to the huge delay between this and my last review. I have been reading still but I am now even further behind with reviews as I have been so insanely busy at work and in life that my reviews have taken a bit of a backseat. Anyway, hopefully I will manage to get through plenty and catch up a bit in the next week or so.
I don’t quite know how I’ve managed to miss this book for so long. I’d heard of it and knew a little about the basic plot. I started reading it when I was eighteen but my bag was stolen with it in when I was only a few pages in so never finished it. I’m so amazed because I loved it so much, and I’m surprised it hasn’t been foisted on me by people who know my taste, maybe people assume I have already read it. Anyway, this is the funny, charming and wonderful story of Cassandra Mortmain and her eccentric family as Cassandra grows up and learns a bit about the world and herself. It is told as Cassandra’s journals and she has such a lovely voice which repeatedly made me giggle as well as really love her as she attempts to navigate life and love.
First Line: “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”
Why I read this: I recently bought the lovely new Random House Vintage Classics cover (designed by Celia Birtwell) for the library and remembered that it is one I had always meant to read.
Who I would recommend it to: Fans of classic coming of age stories such as Anne of Green Gables or My Name is Mina, for something more modern.
Cannonball Read IV 
I loooooove this book. I think I’m going to have to track down a new copy because I lent mine out and never got it back.