THE BLUE CASTLE

'''The Blue Castle''' is a 1926 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, best known for her novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' (1908).
''The Ladies of Missalonghi'' by Colleen McCullough, published in 1987, has a remarkably similar storyline.

Contents

Plot summary

External links

Plot summary

Twenty-nine-year-old Valancy Stirling escapes her drab and sorrowful world with imaginary visits to her Blue Castle in Spain where she is beautiful, charming, admired, and loved - everything her true life lacks. When diagnosed with a heart ailment, Valancy's complaisance is shattered and she rebels, wanting to "live" for a short time before she dies. She begins to say and do exactly as she pleases. L. M. Montgomery's beautiful story of Valancy's revolt against the Stirling clan, her newfound purpose in life, and her growing love for the eccentric Barney Snaith is a modern fairy-tale.
The story takes place in the early 1920's in the fictional town of Deerwood, located in the Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. Deerwood is based on Bala, Ontario, which Montgomery visited in 1922. Maps of the two towns show similarities.
This novel is considered one of L.M. Montgomery's few adult works of fiction, along with ''A Tangled Web'', and is the only book she wrote that is set outside of Prince Edward Island. It has grown in popularity since being republished in 1990.

External links

★ ''The Blue Castle'' - online text from Project Gutenberg

★ An L.M. Montgomery Resource Page Resource for all things L.M. Montgomery, includes The Blue Castle Encyclopedia and more on Valancy

★ Bala's Museum The setting for ''The Blue Castle''

★ ''The Blue Castle: A Musical Love Story'' a 1997 musical adapted from the book by Hank Stinson