Dodie Smith’s novel is just like any other charming British novel set in the countryside in the 1930s: the landscape is glorious, the cupboard is bare, and the characters eccentric. I Capture the Castle opens with the wonderful line “I am sitting in the kitchen sink as I write this.” The “I” is Cassandra Mortmain, the 17-year old narrator of the novel (which is, in fact, her journal). She is keeping vigil over her stepmother, Topaz, and her elder sister, Rose, as they attempt to rejuvenate their ragtag wardrobes with a healthy dose of green dye. Unfortunately, this lends both their clothes and their skin an interesting virescence – a state that is much lamented when their new, handsome, wealthy American neighbors come calling. This episode is just one of the many very human portraits that Cassandra draws, wittily and honestly, with her stub of a pencil. And just like humanity, I Capture the Castle manages to be funny and sad at the same time. The castle in question, where the Mortmains reside, is magnificent but dilapidated. This state of affairs seemed romantic to the family once, but now it is simply mournful. No member of Cassandra’s family escapes her keen sense of observation, and she certainly has no shortage of material. The characters are already caricatures of themselves, even without Cassandra’s commentary. Her father is a brilliant author with one highly lauded book, whose inspiration has vanished since Cassandra’s mother died when the girls were young. When he…
“I am looking for authors with a distinctive voice.” [on an agent’s website] “Great premise but I couldn’t connect with the writer’s voice.” [publisher’s rejection] “The voice isn’t strong enough in the first ten pages to make me keep reading.” [agent rejection letter] So what do editors mean by “voice” when they talk about the craft of writing? Voice is the individual writing style of… [Read More]
Wondering what to gift the avid reader in your life this holiday season? Look no further! Here are some creative gift ideas for bookworms that are sure to delight. Blankets and cozy socks There’s nothing quite like curling up with a good book, and these warm, fluffy gifts can make every reading experience even more comfortable, especially in these cold winter months. These blankets from… [Read More]
Memoir allows readers a glimpse into the lives of others, the struggles they’ve gone through, the lessons they’ve learned, showing the width and breadth of the human experience. And with the added visual element, graphic memoir brings another dimension to the story and pulls the reader into the setting without the need for prose description, visually transporting readers to lands and perspectives different from their… [Read More]
After years of research and writing, author Sharon Yntema has published her latest book, Ithaca Area Bookstores: Two Hundred years of Bookstore History in Tompkins County 1819-2019. A compendium of retail operations dedicated to purveying books offers a history of a reading community through the lens of bookstores. Sharon agreed to an interview about her new release. Q: When were the first bookstores opened in Ithaca? The… [Read More]
Sunshine and warmer weather are here, and that means it’s the perfect time to head outside, kick back your feet, and read a good book. There are plenty of new releases in fiction to be excited about. Here are some of the new releases I am most eager to read this summer from some popular genres of fiction. Fantasy – Witch King by Martha Wells… [Read More]