I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

“I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring. I wrote my very best poem while sitting on the hen-house.”

Dodie Smith was born in 1896 in Lancashire, England.  She wrote 9 novels, 11 plays, some autobiographical works and two screenplays.  She may not be the most familiar name in your experience of British authors, but, she was, in fact one of the most successful and well-known playwrights of her generation. 

Growing up in a family of people who were great lovers of theatre, Dodie studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art with acting as a possible career but went on to concentrate on what became a very successful writing career. While her plays may not have necessarily remained contemporary favorites, two of her novels have: I Capture the Castle (1948) and The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956).

“Cruel blows of fate call for extreme kindness in the family circle.”

I Capture the Castle was Dodie Smith’s first novel.  She wrote it in California in the 1940s where she and her husband, Alec  Beesley had moved after his stance as a conscientious objector in Britain during WWII.  She was homesick for England and wrote largely to remember a happier time and place. The first British edition published in 1948 by the Heinemann publishing house in London.

“Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.”

The novel became an immediate hit and is still extremely popular - being included at  #82 in the BBC survey, The Big Read in 2003.

I Capture The Castle follows the poor, highly eccentric but genteel Mortmain family and takes place in the areas of Suffolk and in London during 1930s England.  The novel spans April to October in a single year with seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain as first-person narrator.  It’s essentially a coming-of-age story for Cassandra and follows her inner transformation from girlhood to becoming a young woman.

The characters in this novel are a colorful and memorable collection and make this an enjoyable read for any age. There is a timelessness to how Dodie Smith has drawn each one that somehow make them resemble someone you know or would like to know.

 “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas on this work as we meet for a Winter Book Breakfast at 10am on Saturday, January 27th, 2024 to discuss I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch -- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and rushed down stairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

lt was the summer of 1816. 

Because of a widespread environmental impact from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia the previous year, the summer was cold, dark and foggy across most of Europe.  It was a frightening time of political unrest and widespread sickness and famine after crops failed — the perfect setting for the birth of a monster.

Mary Shelley was staying at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland that summer with her partner, Percy Shelley, her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, Lord Byron and Byron’s doctor, John William Polidori. It was an unconventional, literary and passionate grouping of people in an unsettling yet beautiful surrounding.

The story is told that Lord Byron - because of their mutual love of the macabre - proposed a challenge that they each present an original idea for a ghost story.  It took Mary several days but after a particularly vivid nightmare, she began working on her book -  Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

She was 19 years old, most likely intimidated by the literary success of Shelley and Byron and deeply affected by one of the hot topics of the day — whether it was possible to re-animate a body after its death by being “galvanized” with electricity.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the daughter of a political anarchist and philosopher William Godwin and a philosopher, writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft.  Her mother died less than two weeks after her birth and so Mary was primarily raised by her father.  She was informally educated and encouraged to ascribe to her father’s views but felt that she became less of a focus to him after his second marriage.

In 1814 at 17 years old, Mary eloped with poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was then still married to his first wife, Harriet Westbrook.  Together with Mary’s step-sister, Claire Clairmont, the three left England for France and other travels in Europe. 

Despite William Godwin’s radical views on morals and marriage, he deeply disapproved of the relationship between Mary and Percy Shelley.  They were ostracized  by family and their life was complicated with creditors and the death of their first child.

How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!

Narrator

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When Mary, Percy, along with their second child, a new infant son and Clair Clairmont arrived at Lake Geneva in May of 1816 to spend the summer with Lord Byron and John William Polidori, they must have hoped for some refuge and relief but found that the unusual weather and darkness kept them all on edge.

Mary Shelley and her short time with her beloved Percy Shelley was flawed and ultimately without a moral compass -  but as an author, she created a unique and memorable work of fiction that has stood the test of time for its creative and groundbreaking quality.  Published January 1, 1818 as an anonymous work with a preface by Percy Bysshe Shelley — it received widely varying reviews but still claimed immediate popular success. The years have seen it developed into plays, films and television with a wide variety of treatments.  

The original work, however is remarkable in its own right and is definitely worth a read!

Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?

The Creature

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Is Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus a gothic novel or is it one of the first works of science fiction? The answer is a highly-contested one, but in many ways — it is decided by each of its many readers.

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas on this work as we meet for a Autumn Book Breakfast Buffet on Saturday, November 4th, 2023 to discuss Mary Shelley’s work, Frankenstein. There is plenty of time to read this one but you may want to get started soon - it is worth the effort!

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

"That was a memorable day to me, for it made great changes in me. But, it is the same with any life. Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.”

Pip

I love to read Charles Dickens.  He’s not exactly an easy read - his books are usually very lengthy works and there is a different rhythm to reading them…  You don’t finish a Dickens novel in a night or even two nights and you need a fully engaged mind.  They are made to settle into - to invest in with your time and attention — but they are so worth it with their rich, colorful characters and memorable storylines.

."... everybody for miles around, had heard of Miss Havisham up town—as an immensely rich and grim old lady who lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who led a life of seclusion.”

Pip

Charles Dickens was an incredible creative force during his lifetime.  He wrote 15 novels, 5 novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fictional articles. He gave lectures, was a prolific letter writer and edited a weekly journal for almost 20 years. 

Because of personal experiences in his early life, Dickens was also a dedicated campaigner for children’s rights, education, and social reforms — including his stance as an outspoken proponent for copyright law and the protection of intellectual property.  

But above all Charles Dickens was most celebrated and beloved for his pioneering of the narrative serial novel. Not only did he capture the imagination of millions during his writing career, but he also had an intense gift for a deep portrayal of a time period and a way of life in the world in which he lived.

Born Charles John Huffam Dickens at No. 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport, Portsmouth, England in February of 1812, Dickens was the 2nd of 8 children born to John and Elizabeth Barrow Dickens.  John Dickens was ultimately incapable of supporting his large family, forcing Charles to begin work at 12 years old at Warren’s Blacking Factory after his father’s poor head for finances led to his imprisonment for debt in the Marshalsea Prison. These early formative years became a taboo topic for discussion with Charles Dickens but found wonderfully creative expression in each of his literary works.

“We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people made up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable…”

Pip

Our current read - Great Expectations - is Dickens’ 13th novel and the second to be told in the first person - the first being David Copperfield.  It was originally published in his weekly periodical All The Year Round from December 1, 1860 to August of 1861.  It was then published in October of 1861 in 3 volumes with the publisher Chapman and Hall.

In Great Expectations we follow the story of an orphan nicknamed Pip and walk with him through all of the character-forming experiences that lead him into adulthood and ultimately determine the course of his life as he seeks to discover his own identity and place in his world.  Dickens’ heart for the plight of children is front and center in this work - and the characters are all strong and memorable; Joe Gargery, Abel Magwitch, Miss Havisham, Estella… 

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.”

Pip

Great Expectations is a truly wonderful reading journey and Charles Dickens is assuredly at his best - mixing mystery, humor and tragedy.  We are led to agonize with Pip but also experience the pang of regret at decisions made and prejudices held.

We will all be able to share our thoughts and ideas as we meet for a Summer Book Breakfast Buffet at 10am on Saturday, July 29th, 2023 to discuss Charles Dickens’ work, Great Expectations. There is plenty of time to read this one but you may want to get started soon - it is worth the effort!

"I never had one hour's happiness in her society, and yet my mind all round the four-and-twenty hours was harping on the happiness of having her with me unto death.”

Pip

Villette by Charlotte Brontë

“I believe in some blending of hope and sunshine sweetening the worst lots. I believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor the end. I believe while I tremble; I trust while I weep.” 

― Charlotte Bronte, Villette

Charlotte Brontë was born on April 21st of 1816 in Market Street, Thornton, west of Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire to an Irish Anglican clergyman, Patrick Brontë and his wife, Maria.

In 1820 when she was 4 years old, Charlotte’s family moved to Haworth on the edge of the moors in West Yorkshire, England, where her father was appointed perpetual curate of St. Michael and All Angels Church.  The moors and surrounding Yorkshire locale thereafter became highly influential to Charlotte’s development as she grew up and her subsequent writing was filled with their beauty and stark isolation. All three author sisters - Charlotte, Emily & Anne - drew heavily from their surroundings and the loneliness of the landscape featured as a haunting presence in all of their works.

It seemed that death was a close companion of the Brontë family throughout Charlotte’s life with the loss of their mother in 1821 and the two oldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth in 1825, who both died of tuberculosis while still children.

After Charlotte’s mother passed away in 1821, their Aunt Elizabeth came to oversee the children and house, but even so, it appears that the Brontë children spent a great deal of time alone together and began to create stories and characters in their seclusiveness. 

“But solitude is sadness.'

'Yes; it is sadness. Life, however, has worse than that. Deeper than melancholy lies heart-break.” 

― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

All of the Brontë children were avid readers and all retreated into a rich fantasy life which fed into their writing - whether poetry or prose. Charlotte drew heavily on life experiences of her own and wove them into her works - whether it was the damp & dismal conditions at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge, her brief stints as a governess or her teaching role at a school.

Charlotte was the eldest to survive to adulthood out of the five Brontë daughters and brother, Branwell, and she lived the longest out of all six children.  She remained at the parsonage at Haworth with the elderly Patrick Brontë until she was married at 38 years old to Arthur Bell Nichols, her father’s curate. 

Within nine months, however, she had died due to complications in pregnancy.  Her death was reported as being tuberculosis - the family illness - but more recent medical analysis has determined that it was hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition which is treatable today.

We all have our own perceptions of the Brontë sisters; Charlotte, Emily and Anne.  Their works are some of the most read, debated and beloved in literature.  For three fairly secluded young women, their writing was deep, involved, psychological and worldly.

“If life be a war, it seemed my destiny to conduct it single-handed.” 

― Charlotte Bronte, Villette

Villette - Charlotte’s third published work and the last published during her lifetime - was originally published in 1853 in 3 volumes. Like Jane Eyre, Villette is  a psychologically complex workalthough it also follows threads of Gothic romance, so popular at the time. Protagonist, Lucy Snow is a memorable character and is one of the most honest heroines of the literary time.

There is much about the storyline that bears a heavy resemblance to a period of Charlotte’s own life and her experiences in Brussels, Belgium where Charlotte and Emily were both enrolled in a boarding school. In exchange for board and tuition, Charlotte taught English and Emily music.  

With major themes of intense isolation, social repression and internal conflict, the work Villette bears many similarities to Charlotte’s life and her time spent in Belgium.  She and Emily were foreigners, Protestant instead of Catholic like others at the school and Charlotte apparently struggled with an attraction for the married head of the school, Constantin Héger.

Many readers view Villette as being an even better novel than Jane Eyre - but has it stood the test of time and popularity as such?

No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mould, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise.

― Charlotte Bronte, Villette

SANDITON by Jane Austen

“But Sanditon itself — everybody has heard of Sanditon. The favourite — for a young and rising bathing-place — certainly the favourite spot of all that are to be found along the coast of Sussex; the most favoured by nature, and promising to be the most chosen by man.”  

Mr. Parker

In January of 1817 Jane Austen began a new work which she entitled The Brothers.  By mid-March however,  the eleven completed chapters were paused and never finished - most likely due to her advancing illness.

The current title, Sanditon was used amongst the Austen family, although both remaining copies of the manuscript are marked Untitled.  James Edward Austen-Leigh, one of Jane Austen’s nephews, referred to the work in 1871 — the first that it was mentioned in public — with a summary and quotations when he released a second edition of his Memoir of Jane Austen and in 1925 it was published as Jane left it under the title, Fragment of a Novel, which was edited by R.W. Chapman.

“Those who tell their own story, you know, must be listened to with caution. When you see us in contact, you will judge for yourself.” 

Mr. Parker

Numerous attempts have been made through the years at imagining the rest of the story, beginning with Jane’s niece, Anna Lefroy. The unfinished novel now known as Sanditon was definitely a different premise than most of Austen’s other works.  The seaside resort setting with emerging themes of business ventures, health and hypochondria, greed and ambition were newer areas for Jane Austen’s writing and it would be fascinatiing to see how she would have developed and completed this storyline!

Beloved author Jane Austen was born December 16, 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire in England to a rector father from an old and well-respected family of wool merchants who had fallen into poverty and a mother from the prominent and highly-connected Leigh family. George Austen received a modest income from the living to the Steventon parish and depended on assistance and support from relatives along with farming and the tutoring of young boys who boarded in the Austen household. 

Although money was ever an issue, the Austen household was filled with intellectual conversation, amused considerations of social and political interests and easy debate. Their home was frequented with visits from friends and family with news of travels, fashionable life in London and Bath - all of which Jane digested and which ultimately found their way into her works.

In the midst of a very affectionate family, Jane and her sister Cassandra in particular had a deep and devoted relationship and hated to be apart. Other than a few relatively short stays at boarding schools, they were primarily educated by reading at home with some guidance from their father and older brothers.  Her father always gave her unrestricted access to the library and provided both Jane and her sister with drawing materials and paper for writing.

Jane loved to write and experimented with different “voices” and mediums.  She filled bound notebooks with parodies of current historical writing or the wildly romantic fiction of the day (which she disliked).  She wrote poems, short stories, comedic plays and began trying the drafting of novels - all of which is now referred to as her Juvenilia.

It wasn’t until her 30s that Austen began to anonymously publish her works.  She, her mother and her sisters had settled with her brother Edward in the village of Chawton within his Hampshire estate and Jane Austen began her most serious period of readying some existing manuscripts for publication.  She published four well-received novels during her time there.

Most published writers of her day were men but Jane Austen brought a new voice to her literature of the day.  She presented the everyday and the ordinary life of a woman of her station in Britain.  She didn’t delve into the political or fill her works with the crimes or wars that were a part of her day and time, but wrote about the simple plight of the single female in a world that left her materially dependent on others.

It is the lasting greatness of Jane Austen’s works that - regardless of the century, continent or person - we can each find ourselves in her carefully constructed characters.  We have all most likely had our Willoughbys or Henry Crawfords - but if we are very blessed, we sometimes find our Edwards, Darcys or our Colonel Brandons to be our companions.

Sir Edward’s great object in life was to be seductive. With such personal advantages as he knew himself to possess, and such talents as he did also give himself credit for, he regarded it as his duty. He felt that he was formed to be a dangerous man, quite in the line of the Lovelaces Sir Edward’s great object in life was to be seductive. 

The Narrator

We don’t know as much as we would like about Jane Austen - her life, her thoughts, her loves.…  Her sister, Cassandra was a fierce protector of Jane, and is thought to have destroyed over two thirds of Austen’s letters before her own death, leaving only about 160 letters for our study - none of which were written before Jane turned 20.  Some of the redacted letters that remained even had sections cut out and ultimately revealed extremely little about what she thought about her family, her friends, politics and religion.  

It is possible, however to hear Jane Austen’s heart in her published works and not only that, but her satirical nudges at society, her burden of monetary dependence on others and her appreciation of honor and kindness.  She was a ground-breaking writer for her time - yet before she died, none of her works were published in her name.

Jane Austen died at 41 years old is buried in Winchester Cathedral with the inscription:

In Memory of JANE AUSTEN, youngest daughter of the late Revd GEORGE AUSTEN, formerly Rector of Steventon in this County. She departed this Life on the 18th of July 1817, aged 41, after a long illness supported with the patience and the hopes of a Christian. The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained the regard of all who knew her and the warmest love of her intimate connections. Their grief is in proportion to their affection, they know their loss to be irreparable, but in their deepest affliction they are consoled by a firm though humble hope that her charity, devotion, faith and purity have rendered her soul acceptable in the sight of her REDEEMER.

There is nothing in this original inscription that celebrates her lasting contribution as a profoundly important writer, but simply honors her wealth of value as a beloved daughter, sister and friend.

Among other points of moralising reflection which the sight of this tete-a-tete produced, Charlotte could not but think of the extreme difficulty which secret lovers must have in finding a proper spot for their stolen interviews. 

The Narrator

As we revisit our beloved Jane Austen in our Winter Book Breakfast choice of the unfinished Sanditon - a work that has received significant attention over the last few years as a result of the PBS series, which was wildly based on the Austen novel.  We have read all of the Jane Austen novels over the years - but not this one!  This should be a great addition and give way to interesting discussion!  We will be discussing this book on Saturday, January 28th, 2023.  This is a shorter work - there is plenty of time to read this one!