Wow! I didn’t know what to expect. It starts a little slow, and then Wow!
The blue castle is the imaginary escape of Valancy Stirling, a 29-year-old, old maid living with her officious mother and busy-body cousin. The story is set in Deerwood, a fictional town of Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada very early 19th Century.
Valancy, or Doss to her family, is barely a person. She is never allowed to do what she wants, never allowed to be idle, never smiles, never had a beau or even a friend, and never has she been not afraid of her family. The family, including cousins, aunts, and uncles, are condescendingly tolerant and openly disappointed with her. When she dares to express her desire to be addressed as Valancy rather than Doss, her wishes are quickly dismissed without debate. She submits, which is the end of it in all of 20 seconds.
Barely a person.
It started slow and worse than slow. I didn’t like Valancy. I pitied her and was disgusted by her family, but goodness, she never did one thing to free herself. Who can like such a non-person?
Until the “Wow!” A crisis forms an epiphany. Gloriously she becomes a person, but at a price. The crisis would, in all other circumstances, be considered “bad news”, “devastating news”, “life-changing news”, life-changing indeed. Valancy accepts the price without a second thought and becomes a beautiful, life-loving person the reader can cheer for.
Valancy keeps the reason for her change secret from her family. But living under the same roof, her mother and cousin cannot miss a few little oddities of behavior. They rebuff her and are incredulous at her defiance. It is not until a family dinner party that the new Valancy comes shining through. For a few moments, mother dares to hope that Valancy will behave, and then, wham! They are forced to contend with a person full of life, and thoughts, and dignity.
They assume Doss is quite gone mad.
It was one of the most satisfying chapters in fiction I’ve ever read.
But a non-person cannot become a person in one chapter. Valancy makes good until another crisis. In all other circumstances, it would be “great news”, “wonderful news”, “life-changing news”, life-changing indeed. It threatens to destroy all the life of change in Valancy and relegate her to a tamed non-person once again.
Previously, I’ve only read one short story by Lucy Maude Montgomery, "A Christmas Inspiration". It was good but quite maudlin. I was expecting more of the same from this novel, and thus expecting to find it too saccharin for my taste. I was pleasantly surprised. Montgomery is best known for her children’s fiction, and I’ll probably give Anne of Green Gables a try, but I suspect it may be a bit too sweet for me. I’ll definitely read her only other adult novel, A Tangled Web.
My rating: 4 ½ out of 5 stars
I read this for the What’s in a Name Challenge 2022, “Color” category.
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