I Capture The Castle

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

Cassandra is seventeen and living in a run down castle. Her once famous father leased the castle with the money from his one and only published book. Her lovely sister Rose is moody and depressed with no positive outlook for marriage. Her witty and bright little brother Thomas is still in school. Stephen is the maid's son, left with the family after her death. Stephen deeply loves Cassandra.....she does not return the love. Cassandra's stepmother Topaz is eccentric and breathtaking. And her father, suffering from writer's block is holed up in a bitterly cold room doing crosswords.

The new owners of the castle turn up. Simon and Neil Cotton and their mother. All American, they soon fall in love with the English countryside and Cassandra's famous father. Rose hopes this is her chance to change the family's financial situation. She immediately tries to capture the heart of Simon. The Cotton family is wealthy and friendly. They seem a perfect match for the monetarily and socially challenged Mortmain family.

Cassandra desires herself to be a writer. The book is her journal. From first glance of the Cotton boys until the bitter and surprising end of the Mortmain's relationship with them....Cassandra details it all in sweet with sweet and witty writing.

Rating 4 I loved the writing style and how Cassandra would build up to what she felt was an exciting turn of events. She was also very introspective and truthful about herself.
Rating G Clean.....although I thing the English use of 'making love' really meant something much less drastic.