I Capture The Castle

“Every time I meet someone who also loves I Capture the Castle, I know we must be kindred spirits.” —from the new foreword by Jenny Han, the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. A beautiful, deluxe edition of Dodie Smith’s beloved novel, I Capture the Castle, featuring a new foreword by New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han, a stunning new cover, and designed endpapers that is perfect for devoted readers and those discovering this timeless story for the first time. Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain and her family may live in a ramshackle old English castle, but that’s about as romantic as her life gets. While her beautiful older sister, Rose, longs to live in a Jane Austen novel, Cassandra knows that meeting an eligible man to marry isn’t in either of their futures when their home is crumbling and they have to sell their furniture for food. So Cassandra instead strives to hone her writing skills in her journals. Until one day when their new landlords move in, which include two (very handsome) sons, and the lives of the Mortmain sisters change forever. Through Cassandra’s sharply funny, yet poignant, journal entries, she chronicles the great changes that take place within the castle’s walls, and her own first descent into love. By the time she pens her final entry, she has “captured the castle” – and the heart of the reader – in one of literature’s most enchanting novels. “This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met.” —J.K. Rowling, bestselling author of the Harry Potter series

This is the diary of Cassandra Mortmain, which tells of her extraordinary family and their crumbling castle home. Cassandra's father was once a famous writer, but now he mainly reads detective novels while his family slide into genteel poverty. Her sister Rose is bored and beautiful, and desperate to marry riches. Their step-mother Topaz has habit of striding through the countryside wearing only her wellington boots. But all their lives will be soon be transformed by the arrival of new neighbours from America, and Cassandra finds herself falling in love.

A vibrant history of the castle in Britain, from the early Middle Ages to the present day The castle has long had a pivotal place in British life, associated with lordship, landholding, and military might, and today it remains a powerful symbol of history. But castles have never been merely impressive fortresses—they were hubs of life, activity, and imagination. John Goodall weaves together the history of the British castle across the span of a millennium, from the eleventh to the twenty-first century, through the voices of those who witnessed it. Drawing on chronicles, poems, letters, and novels, including the work of figures like Gawain Poet, Walter Scott, Evelyn Waugh, and P. G. Wodehouse, Goodall explores the importance of the castle in our culture and society. From the medieval period to Civil War engagements, right up to modern manifestations in Harry Potter, Goodall reveals that the castle has always been put to different uses, and to this day continues to serve as a source of inspiration.

A companion volume to the author's book, A Reader's Delight, a collection of essays rescues from obscurity thirty-three neglected gems of literature written for children, from the very young to adolescents. UP.

A collection of every movie review the popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic has done from January 2002 to mid-June 2004 includes the past year's interviews and essays, as well as reviews from all the major film festivals, his biweekly "Questions for the Movie Answer Man," profiles of leading actors, and more. Original. 50,000 first printing.

A New York Times Notable Book and a San Francisco Chronicle Book of the Year: A look at the pleasures and surprises of rereading. Compared with reading, the act of rereading is far more personal—it involves a complex interaction of our past selves, our present selves, and literature. With candor and humor, this “inspired intellectual romp, part memoir, part criticism” takes us on a guided tour of the author’s own return to books she once knew—from the plays of Shakespeare to twentieth-century novels by Kingsley Amis and Ian McEwan, from the childhood favorite I Capture the Castle to classic novels such as Anna Karenina and Huckleberry Finn, from nonfiction by Henry Adams to poetry by Wordsworth—as she reflects on how the passage of time and the experience of aging has affected her perceptions of them (Lawrence Weschler). A cultural critic and the acclaimed author of Why I Read, Wendy Lesser conveys an infectious love of reading and inspires us all to take another look at the books we’ve read to find the unexpected treasures they might offer. “Delightful.” —Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce “Anyone who has ever approached a once favorite book later in life . . . will find in this memoir moments of bittersweet recognition.” —The New York Times Book Review “Reflect[s] deeply and candidly on how a reader’s life experiences alter her perceptions of literature . . . [Lesser] has truly fascinating and original things to say about a compelling assortment of writers, including George Orwell, George Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, Dostoyevsky, and Shakespeare.” —Booklist

A determined young Lancashire girl arrives in London intent on a stage career - this tale from the author of I Capture the Castle is told with the candour and authenticity that derives from Dodie Smith's own experience of the theatre world. Mouse never did fully suit her nickname. Tiny she may have been, but timid never. After less than twenty-four hours in London she had bluffed her way into an audition at a famous theatre, infuriated its forceful young stage director, and amused its kind if quite amoral actor-manager. She had finally landed not a part but a toehold as a junior secretary. During her involvement in the engrossing affairs of the Crossway Theatre she met her friends Molly, a baby-faced six-footer; and elegant, ambitious Lilian, who was fated to clash disastrously with Mouse. Later, there was also Zelle, rich, generous, enigmatic, and responsible for an outing to Suffolk village pageant which proved a turning point for them all. Life was always surprising the fearless Mouse: when she unexpectedly got to a chance to act she made an unforgettable impression, though not the one she had intended. However, nothing prepared her for the assault of first love, highly unsuitable, but welcomed by her in a way which was to have far-reaching consequences. Only when she looks back after a reunion luncheon does she realise the full effects of that shared summer on her friends and herself. A startlingly frank yet nostalgic read, this is a charming novel about coming of age and the healing effects of time.

Honest, funny, unorthodox, liberated and quintessentially English, Dodie Smith, playwright and novelist, was the author of the immortal classics, The Hundred and One Dalmatians and I Capture the Castle. One of the most successful playwrights of her generation, she spent the war years in the U.S. where she befriended Christopher Isherwood, and through Walt Disney’s film, became a household name.

From the author of I Capture the Castle comes a delightful, funny tale of complicated sibling relationships, friendship, and forbidden love, set in 1970s England Suspecting her husband, George, of dalliances in the city, May decides it is high time the family moved to the country. Determined to create the perfect home there, she finds an idyllic country house set in a lilac grove and sets about furnishing it properly and cooking enormous meals. She even manages to convince her less well-off sister, June, to move into a cozy cottage on the grounds with her husband Robert. This new set-up is very much a family affair as June’s husband Robert just happens to be George’s brother: the two sisters are married to two brothers. At first both families seem to be settling in well, sharing delicious meals and having fun times together. Their grown-up children, Hugh and Corinna, visit from London and there even seems to be a hint of romance in the air for them, while the surviving grandparents from both sides of the family move into the big house and forge new friendships. But the arrival of a cantankerous great aunt will reveal the cracks in the family’s tangled relationships and will even threaten to unveil the greatest secret of all—while May thought moving George to the country would put a stop to his affairs, he has begun to fall in love with his sister-in-law, June. The death of a beloved character will, however, turn the tables again and lead to the ultimate, happy, denouement.

The book that inspired the animated movie classic! When Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of pups—fifteen in all—everyone is delighted. But their joy is shortlived, for the pups are kidnapped! Scotland Yard is baffled, but the keenest canine minds are on the case—and on the trail of Cruella de Vil, the most fiendish person to ever covet a fur coat. Pongo and Missis would give everything they have to bring their puppies safely home... but will they succeed in rescuing them from the cluthes of the evil Cruella de Vil? "A tale full to overflowing with those prime requisites of a good story—warmth and humor, imagination and suspense."—Chicago Sunday Tribune "Superb reading. The puzzle of the hundred and one is delightful.... Highly recommended."—SLJ

We first meet Roger and Dorothy at the unprepossessing hour of 8 a.m. when Vera wakes them with the early morning tea. We say farewell to them, less than sixteen hours later, as they turn out the lights and go to sleep. But in between there has been more excitement than most people manage to crowd into sixteen months. Roger falls in and out of love with an actress/client of his sober accountancy business in the Temple; Dorothy half yields her heart to a lonely rubber planter. One daughter quite yields hers to a philandering painter with a watchful wife, only to find it returned, battered, but unbroken. The other achieves the (momentary) desire of her life "a Rossetti drawing." Their son experiences love-at-first-sight with the new neighbor over the garden wall. And, all the time, below stairs, Cook and Vera not to mention the daily help are living and loving (occasionally breaking the china) with equal zest and joie de vivre.

Dodie Smith’s classic tale about 101 Dalmations and their fight for survival against the evil Cruella De Vil. When Missis and Pongo’s puppies go missing, the two Dalmatian parents know the scary Cruella De Vil has had something to do with it. After all, she adores furs, and the Dalmatians have such beautiful coats . . . The dogs’ pets, Mr and Mrs Dearly, don’t understand them, so it is up to Pongo and Missis to rescue their pups - with the help of all the dogs in England. The Hundred and One Dalmations is an all-time classic children’s book. Famously adapted by Walt Disney Studios, it continues to be one of the most popular children’s books long after the author’s death.

During a summer festival in an English spa town Miles Quentin, a distinguished actor, and his devoted wife become friendly with the local MP Geoffrey Thornton, and his young daughters Robin and Kit. All of these attractive, intelligent and busy people seem untroubled at first. But the surface of their lives conceals problems which start to come to light after the Quentin's return to their London theatre world and the Thornton's to their Westminster home. This leads to an unconventional love story in which loyalty may prove more important than love. It Ends with Revelations deals with complex issues of love and commitment, while retaining elements of the light hearted comedy of I Capture The Castle and the nostalgic charm of The Town in Full Bloom. As ever, the vivacity of Dodie Smith's writing and the warmth of her characters will keep readers guessing until the last page.

Contains biographical sketches of playwrights whose careers had reached a professional height before the 1939-1945 war, or whose lives had ended by that time.