Week One, Chapters 1-8
What happened in these chapters?
Bonkers chapters! Valancy almost gets hit by a train because she can't resist wearing her adorable shoes. Barney saves her and then starts acting weird. After all that excitement with the train, though, she realizes that if she did have a heart issues, how could she still be alive? She goes to see Dr. Trent who told her that he mistook her letter for that of Miss Jane Sterling (Sterling/Stirling - we all make these mistakes when we send letters about life and death, don't we?) and Valancy is just fine.
This makes Valancy feel TERRIBLE because she only married Barney because she thought it would be short-term. She heads back to the island and who does she see but Dr. Redfern, he of the purple pills and liniment, claiming to be Barney's father and that he wants Barney to come home to marry his lost love! She heads into Barney's chamber to find something to write with and finds out that he is indeed John Foster. She writes him a letter telling him that she's not dying and that his father was there and breaks up with him because she never intended to trap him.
Then she goes back to her family's dungeon house and her mom is a dick. Barney comes in and declares his love for her and they live happily ever after.
(Things I did not see coming: the train incident or Barney as a Redfern. Crazy!)
********************
Hat mentions (why hats?):
Then she put on her hat and coat, locked the door and hid the key in the hollow of the old pine and crossed to the mainland in the motor boat. (page 256)
The stranger wore a green hat and a light fawn overcoat over a suit of a loud check pattern. (page 264)
Dr. Redfern took out a yellow silk handkerchief, removed his hat and mopped his brow. (page 266)
Valancy had taken off her hat and was absently thrusting a pin in and out of it. (page 271)
She put on her hat and mechanically fed Good Luck and Banjo. (page 279)
********************
How many times did the Blue Castle get name checked in these chapters?
page 248, 252, 256, 264 (x2), 266, 267 (x2), 268, 271, 275 (x2), 276, 280, 292, 295, 305-306, 306, 310 (x2)
********************
Last week's homework:
My favorite line from the reading is: Thirty seconds can be very long sometimes. Long enough to work a miracle or a revolution. In thirty seconds life changed wholly for Barney and Valancy Snaith. (page 248)
This one really made me think because I frequently tell myself that I can do anything for X amount of time when I don't want to do something. I intensely dislike dentist appointments, but I can do it for an hour. Core day is not fun, but I can do it for twenty minutes. I don't want to go to that meeting that's scheduled for two hours, but when it's over, I can do something fun. So it's the opposite of how I live my life, really, and I had to stop and ponder it for a long time.
And it is true that some of the biggest things in life happen quickly, isn't it? Life and death are given and taken quickly.
********************
Other lines of note:
I was tracking how Barney felt about Valancy:
It struck Valancy more than once that Barney himself laughed a great deal oftener than he used to and that his laugh had changed. It had become wholesome. (page 237)
AND
"....But I told him I didn’t want my wife painted—hung up in a salon for the mob to stare at. Belonging to another man. For of course I couldn’t buy the picture. So even if you had wanted to be painted, Moonlight, your tyrannous husband would not have permitted it. Tierney was a bit squiffy. He isn’t used to being turned down like that. His requests are almost like royalty’s.” (page 245)
It had been beautiful because death waited. Now it was only sordid because death was gone. How could any one bear an unbearable thing?
I mean, death is always looming, isn't it?
“Why are good husbands like bread?” Cousin Stickles asked why. “Because women need them,” beamed Uncle Benjamin.
I must admit that I laughed at this. I am an easy target for a good (bad?) pun.
********************
Things I looked up:
Æolus - Name shared by three mythological characters who are hard to tell apart.
The second Aeolus was a son of Poseidon, who led a colony to islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The third Aeolus was a son of Hippotes who is mentioned in the Odyssey and the Aeneid as the ruler of the winds.
But it's hard to say.
Quatre Bras - French for "crossroads" - literally "four arms" - this is a hamlet in Belgium where a battle was fought in 1815 as part of the Waterloo Campaign
Samarcand - city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia (looks GORGEOUS)
********************
Questions to ponder (as always, feel free to answer as many or few of these as you'd like - talk about what you want to talk about!):
1) Were you expecting any of that? I mean, I think we all figured out that Barney was Foster, but any of the rest of it?
2) Some of you were not sold on Barney's feelings for Valancy last week. Were you convinced by his declaration of love?
3) Anyone else want to kick Valancy's mother? It makes sense why she is the way she is, but does anyone else wonder where Valancy got her spunk?
She had resigned herself to Valancy’s desertion. She had almost succeeded in forgetting there was a Valancy. She had rearranged and organised her systematic life without any reference to an ungrateful, rebellious child. She had taken her place again in a society which ignored the fact that she had ever had a daughter and pitied her, if it pitied her at all, — only in discreet whispers and asides. The plain — truth was that, by this time, Mrs. Frederick did not — want Valancy to come back—did not want ever to see or hear of her again. (page 282)
4) Was this a satisfying ending for you? Did you want something else to happen that didn't?
5) Tell me about your favorite line from this week's reading!!
********************
I loved these chapters. How frozen she felt. "She had absorbed all the shocks and sensations that she could compass in one day."
ReplyDeleteGoing hone, " I wonder if the Prodigal son ever felt really at home again." The resignation at returning to the family.
The only false note, I felt, was when she was happy he was mad she said she wanted to leave do meant he really did care. A little weird to me, but maybe I just don't understand Barney.
Uncle Benjamin is a complete brown nose, but useful here.
I'm glad they've reconciled to the father. And my soft spot for Geogiana triumphs- she gets to look after the cats while V and B take their honeymoon.
Very satisfactory.
It is kind of crazy to imagine the whiplash of Valancy's feelings that day. You're going to die! No you're not! Your husband is the son of a rich man! Your husband is John Foster! What a day for Valancy. I'd be in shock and frozen, too.
DeleteI liked Cousin Georgiana! And I thought this was a really satisfying end to the book.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the thirty seconds is interesting, because YES. Thirty seconds can be huge! I also think of things in chunks like that, as you do. Another book I'm reading right now has that concept, in which the author (who is paralysed) counts time in spurts of seconds to pass the day.
Valancy's mother is TERRIBLE. I have always hated her and I wondered how I would feel on the reread, since I read this when I was around 13 and felt strongly negatively about my own family situation. I wondered if I would be more generous now. NO. I hated her just as much!
Thanks Engie! Another great CBBC! I know it's a lot of work, and we all appreciate everything you do.
Her mother was SO BAD. I don't know why I get so upset about bad mothers all the time. Or even an explanation for why her mother was so bad and what made her that way could have gone a long way for me.
DeleteI called from the beginning that the doc had gotten the letters mixed up and that she would meet John Foster...the rest was a surprise! Basically I saw two out of the the ten thousand things that were coming. The way that Montgomery writes makes it all work, and this book was a delight from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteI'm listening to the Story Girl podcast and I do believe that a reread of Anne is on the horizon!
In truth, I have read this book before, but I had completely forgotten about the Train Incident. And I don't know why, but the whole thing made me laugh. I was imagining it as an old silent film scene and I knew it was wrong, but I did chuckle.
DeleteI listened to the Story Girl podcast and I have thoughts. Will discuss that next week in my wrap-up post.
Thanks for all your hard work in organizing this book club! I loved The Blue Castle.
ReplyDeleteThe ending was mostly satisfying to me. I think it came together a bit too quickly? I was not surprised she wasn't actually sick and I wasn't surprised Barney was John Foster, but I definitely did not predict the Redfern connection.
I think Barney really does love her and the shock of the near-miss on the train tracks cemented his love for Valancy. I also think it was a great choice to have Valancy return home and have Barney retrieve her from there. It really closes off that portion of her life.
I wanted them to have a longer conversation about the John Foster thing, too. Like...why did he lie about it? Why did he start doing it? Tell me MORE!!
DeleteAh, I loved this book. I mean- the ending wrapped up almost a little too neat and tidy, but that's just this style of book. It's not realistic, but sometimes you just want to feel good at the end of a book. I think it could have ended without the John Foster/Redfern parts of the story, but with Valancey finding out she's not dying, and she and Barney realizing they really do love each other and want to be married for the rest of their (long) lives. That would have been fine too! But hey, make them rich on top of it all, and make her family extremely envious- why not.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really loved about this book was the freedom Valancey realized when she thought she only had a year to live. I've noticed as I get older (i.e. closer to death) that every day does seem more precious, and I care less and less what other people think of me. For Valancey, that was accelerated and concentrated into a very short, intense period of time. She was able to appreciate each day of her life in the cabin with Barney as if it were an incredible gift, in a way she wouldn't have if she thought she would have 50 or 60 more winters, springs, summers and falls. Is there a way to acquire that level of appreciation for life, without being tricked into thinking you're going to die soon? Anyway... it gave me a lot to think about.
THANK YOU ENGIE for hosting the CBBC! I'm sure it's a ton of work for you, and you do a GREAT job with it. We appreciate it!
Yes, it was neat and tidy, but I was talking about it with my husband and he asked what would the reaction be if she had been hit by a train and killed and I laughed so hard. Then it wouldn't be an L.M. Montgomery joint, would it? Although, she still would have lived a lot in the last months of her life and that would have been a victory of its own, wouldn't it?
DeleteThis morning I was super frustrated with Hannah on our morning walk. She was being SO POKEY. But then I saw three bald eagles over the river and I made her stop and I was pokey and I remembered that these walks are for her and I should let her stop and sniff as much as she wants. I need to remind myself every day to appreciate what I have and what I can do. This book is a good reminder of why.
Wasn't it just a whirl at the end and so satisfying in a rom fic kind of way? Of course Barney acted weird after saving her from the train, but that was because he realized how much he loved her. (Smol eye-roll.)
ReplyDeleteI have a general peeve about awful mothers/step mothers in fairytales and fiction in general. I get that sometimes there are truly awful mothers and having them represented in fiction gives children with awful mothers in real life a way to process and overcome their circumstances. But the preponderance of awful mothers in fiction seems a bit misogynistic/promotes the patriarchal/Freudian trope that women must constantly be in generational competition and all that.
YES!! Because of the fiction I read as a child, I assumed my mom would be terrible or I would be an orphan. LOL. Of course, I also see how it would be challenging to read a book about a perfectly lovely family with a perfectly nice set of parents because then maybe there wouldn't be enough conflict. Fathers do seem to get away with more, though.
DeleteI hadn't thought of this, but you are so right, Maya. Of course we have the trope of an evil mother or evil stepmother, but there's no evil father/stepfather trope...
DeleteAgain, I wish that I had bought this book in hardcover at the outset instead of getting a free virtual copy on my iPad. I truly enjoyed every moment of reading it--and I ranked it last when we voted! So THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PUT IT FIRST!
ReplyDeleteEngie, I'm like you with Time. My mantra is always "People have survived far worse than this." But of course it's true that huge things can happen in an instant, good or bad.
This book broke all the rules I used to set down for my young fiction writers: don't wait until the end to wrap up all the loose ends; don't introduce new characters at the end who are pivotal to the action; don't use tired/cliche devices for romantic situations. Still, I found it fun and enjoyable to read.
I didn't see the Redfern connection coming at all, and except for the comic effect, I don't think it was necessary. It definitely sticks it to the Stirling family. I loved all the huffing and puffing that the men went through when they tried to make sure that Valancy got her share of the Redfern fortune.
At first, I didn't see why such a big deal was made about BS taking Valancy all over the world. Then I got it. She was so stuck in her room and in the Stirling home and in a bland life for so long! Duh.
Also, I liked her pet name Moonlight. It was unusual and creative. Moonlight is ethereal and delicate; it isn't always visible, and not everyone really appreciates it. It's quite romantic and special.
Finally, the scene in which Valancy encounters the wild plum tree and is so overcome by its beauty made me laugh:
“Oh, Barney, look at that wild plum! I will—I must quote from John Foster. There’s a passage in one of his books—I’ve re-read it a hundred times. He must have written it before a tree just like that:
[she goes on for an entire paragraph waxing poetically about this blooming tree in JF's words, verbatim]
“I’m sure you feel much better since you’ve got that out of your system,” said Barney
heartlessly.
How great is that?
Finally, I really liked that BS was a cat person. I just find that men who understand and appreciate cats are...well, let's just say that President Abraham Lincoln was a great lover of cats. I think that says everything.
Oh, I'm so happy to hear that most everyone liked this book even if it did break your rules of good writing. It made me giggle to look at my week 1 post again where I looked up Redfern's Purple Pills and "suspected" that it was a fictional person/company. Ha on me! I didn't imagine Redfern himself would show up, although Barney's anger when Valancy brought some to the cabin makes a lot more sense now than it did at the time.
DeleteI considered that Barney line as the funniest line of the book! He's so dismissive of his own John Foster character. It's hilarious to me!!!
More on LMM's love of cats next week.
These were fun chapters! I was on board with the John Foster connection, but was totally surprised by the Redfern one. How nice for Valancy to end up with a man who truly loves her, and one who despite his wealth, doesn't exploit his station in life. I particularly liked Barney's back story. His life had advantages over Valancy; however, he had his own share of hurt from the relationships with his college friend and the woman he was once engaged to.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite lines were from page 194:
"Warm fire - books - comfort - safety from storm - our cats on the rug. Moonlight," said Barney," would you be any happier now if you had a million dollars?"
"No - nor half so happy. I'd be bored by conventions and obligations then."
This was a conversation that Barney and Valancy had before his wealth was revealed. They share the same values, so I see them having a long and happy life together.
I wasn't surprised by the reactions of either her mother or Uncle Benjamin. They stayed true to their character - miserable and a brown-noser respectively!
Thank you Engie for organizing another great CBBC! The Blue Castle was a very enjoyable read.
In retrospect, I guess we should have figured out the Redfern thing, but I'm glad we didn't. It was a nice little surprise!
DeleteI'm happy to hear that people enjoyed this one. I'm not sure how to follow up on this one, but I'll do my best to try to find a book with a similar tone.
First off, I loved this book and never would have picked it up if not for CBBC! So thank you for bringing it to my attention.
ReplyDelete1) No, I did not expect him to be wealthy, not did I see the John Foster connection until someone else pointed it out. I have to admit, I rarely set a surprise ending coming. I rarely figure out who did it in a mystery either! I don't know what that says about me, but I guess I am just not looking for clues when reading.
2) I was convinced that he does truly love her!
3) Ugh her mother is THE ABSOLUTE WORST. But I was pleased that Uncle Benjamin came around and told her mom to be nice to Valancy. That shouldn't be required but at least someone stood up for her.
4) I was satisfied by the ending but felt like they packed so much into the final chapters!!
I'm with you, Lisa. I rarely see anything coming. And then the smarter than me people are all like "it was so obvious" and I sink down into my chair.
DeleteI kept calling the book bonkers when I was talking about it with my husband. The train! The Redferns! The mom saying she didn't want Valancy to come back! Bonkers.
I agree with Nance - the nickname Moonlight was dynamite. It spoke volumes and was rather unexpected. Like Lisa, I didn't see the surprises coming. Once someone pointed out John Foster bit, I was like OHHH! I was satisfied with the ending. I especially loved that Valency ended up being wealthy mostly because it was another way to stick it to her family and all she wanted was Barney's love. I found the whole dodging-death part such an interesting twist because she was bummed that she wasn't going to die. Usually people are thrilled to discover that they are gonna live. I thought that said so much about her life. Her mother was the worst. Just the worst. I cringed when Valency went back home, and was so relieved that BS showed up (as I knew he would). I couldn't have predicted his background/family life. I believed he truly loved her - hello, Moonlight? And not wanting his wife to be painted.
ReplyDeleteI never would've stumbled on this book if not for the CBBC. This was the first time I managed to find time to be involved with the CBBC in read time and I am so glad that I did. I'm gonna suggest this title to my book club for next year's schedule. I think they'll really enjoy it. I was most surprised at how often humorous bits cropped up. Thanks, Engie, for organizing the group. It clearly takes loads of time and effort. Much appreciated.
Oh, I hope you do recommend it for your book club and that they recommend it and soon there will be a Blue Castle resurgence for LMM! Let's do it!
Delete1)I was still in full denial that Barney was John Foster and the Redfern thing? That came out of nowhere--- PLOT TWIST! 😂
ReplyDelete2) I thought he was in love with her shortly after they married.
3) You called it: Valency's Mom is a dick. (thanks for making me laugh!)
4) I think this was probably the best ending for me....I mean, what else could have been better for our girl V, considering she had such a desire to be loved?
Ok, why did we spend so much time (again in these chapters) discussing Valency's looks? It baffles me that the writer focused so much on aesthetics. To me, that made it feel more childish/immature in the writing. It wasn't my favorite book, and I think because of the way it was written. That being said, I'm still glad to be a part of the Book Club. Thank you!
I mean, I could think of a lot better endings for this! She could realize her self-worth isn't tied in being with a man and be a successful career woman. She could move back home and take charge and not be a doormat for her mother. She could have not immediately fallen back into her old ways when she thought her marriage was over. I mean, it's a happy ending, but it's not a perfectly happy ending, right?!
DeleteEngie, thanks for organizing CBBC!
ReplyDelete1) The whole deus ex machina of Barney's dad being a billionaire - I did not see that coming. I kind of wanted them to live happily ever after in their island shack. It's as if Montgomery just piled on the good fortune to spite Valancy's family.
Also - a $15,000 necklace!!!! I mean that seems astronomical to me now - it must have been insanely expensive then. Like more than the cost of that whole island.
2) I love a good man hopelessly in love. I find it adorable. Loved these lines:
"It was not until early afternoon the next day that a dreadful old car clanked up Elm Street and stopped in front of the brick house. A hatless man sprang from it and rushed up the steps. The bell was rung as it never been run before - vehemently, intensely. The ringer was demanding entrance, not asking it."
That has romantic hero written all over it. (or creepy stalker, depending. But isn't that the way of romance novels?)
3) Her mother! What's up with Mrs. Frederick???? I want to know why she's so horrid to her child. In another kind of book, maybe she would be so heart-broken by Valancy's leaving that she shut her heart up to any more affection. But I don't think that's the case here. It's all rather unsatisfying.
4) The more I think about it, the more the end bothers me. Does anyone else wonder why Valancy doesn't just go do other things with her life once she finds out that she isn't going to die? I do find it a little unsatisfying that her first response on finding out that she's going to live is to sabotage her marriage and go back to her miserable family. It feels like she has learned *nothing* about herself from her time of independence. No voyage of self-discovery or what not. Maybe Montgomery is being ironic here and milking the ridiculousness of "I'm going to live - this is awful news!" But having to have Barney be the one to come rescue her - if this were a romance novel, I'd be throwing it against the wall.
In my ideal world, Valancy would realize that she doesn't need anyone, she would go off and get a job - go to nursing school or become a famous writer - and then Barney would come and grovel a little (or a lot), and acknowledge that she is her own amazing person and that she doesn't need him, but that he loves her madly and maybe they could build a life together as equals. That's the kind of romance novel I'd like to read.
4) I didn't highlight too many lines in these chapters because there was a lot of plot happening, but my favorite line from this section was when Barney was describing his childhood:
"I remember only one happy day in my childhood, Valancy. Only one... Dad had gone out to see an old friend in the country and took me along. I was turned loose in the barnyard and I spent the whole day hammering nails in a block of wood. I had a glorious day."
This is my 8 year old. He would be so happy if he could spend all day hammering nails into a block of wood.
Oh also - one thing I looked up, in Chapter 44 - "collar ad man." (When Olive calls Barney "insignificant-looking," Valancy says to her, "I don't like collar ad men." - Also why is Olive still calling her "Doss"????) The Arrow Collar Man was an iconic advertising figure in the early 1900s, a paragon of male beauty created by illustrator Joseph Leyendecker. I guess a male equivalent to t Gibson Girl. Leyendecker based a lot of his drawings on his lover Charles Beach. It was a fascinating rabbit hole.
I think she goes back home because she cannot stay at blue castle now that she knows the truth. Scrupulous Valancy. She has no ,oney and sudders from shock. Mother has to take her in- respectability is her idol and people would talk if she didn't. If Valance has a few more days to recover from the shock, I bet she's snap out of it and go become a housekeeper or something.
DeleteMoney and suffers. Autocorrect please do better!
DeleteYes, she needs money, but she could go back and NOT BE A DOORMAT for her family. Why doesn't she defend herself? Do something with her newfound confidence? I give her a day or two to grieve, but then she needed to put on her big girl pants/dress and figure out a plan.
Delete1) What is really strange is that when I read the train scene, I had déjà vu! Have I read this before? I couldn’t have! So weird. I think the only part that caught me off guard was Valancy going home. It undoes so much of what made Valancy so fun in the rest of the book. She wanted a chance to go LIVE and then she got even more of a chance and she crumbled back home… I am proud that I got John Foster, I got the letter being wrong (poor Jane), but I so didn’t call the Redfern connection. I thought Barney had money from being John Foster.
ReplyDelete2) I think Barney had a natural (and, dare I say, HEALTHY) progression into love which I really appreciated. His appreciation of her grew into love as she grew into herself. Dare I say it was lovely to see it happen!
3) Her mother was THE WORST! I think the weakest part of the novel was the characterization of Valancy’s family – like I am fully aware there are miserable and mean people in the world, but it’s hard see someone as a person when their baseline is the quote you referenced. It might have been a more nuanced journey if Valancy’s family was a little less of a caricature and more just set / trapped in their ways, beliefs, and traditions.
4) I am so glad Valancy ended up happy and loved and living a wild life! And, at the same time, it all came together pretty perfectly (which is not life) (but IS a romance novel, so…); the “villains” were left to be miserable as Valancy rode/drove off with her rich prince, sigh. That Olive chapter towards the end really just rubbed salt in the wound, where I think Valancy living well was enough to be the cherry on top!
5) For me, as well, it was “Thirty seconds can be very long sometimes. Long enough to work a miracle or a revolution.” It did BOTH in the book! The options of either a miracle or a revolution are really what did it for me. This may be just where it’s landing in my own life, but so much of this book was about whether it’s worth it to settle and be “safe” or try something – anything! - and perhaps not be. Beyond the train incident, so much of the plot of this book could be explained by this sentence; thinking and dreaming are long, but taking action can be quick, whether it’s moving out or saying what you’re thinking or proposing.
Amazing CBBC pick, Engie!! These comment threads are just the best!
The train scene is similar to the one in Fried Green Tomatoes. The brother's foot gets stuck in the train track while trying to catch the hat that is windswept off the head of one of the main female characters. As the train rapidly approaches, he is desperately trying to untie his shoe and...well, his situation doesn't turn out as positively as Valancy's.
DeleteOh snap, Jacquie! That is such a great connection and you are 100% correct that it doesn't end up as positively, yikes. I really do need to reread FGT!
DeleteOur quotes are the same!! Woot woot! It made me sit and think on it a bit.
DeleteIt did come together perfectly and while I wish Valancy were a stronger person, at least she did get a happily ever after. I'm not sure she deserves it, though. LOL.
I definitely did not think she was going to die, but the rest of it was unexpectedly adorable and I loved it. I had to read the train scene like 4 times because I was like OMFG Valancy what are you DOING
ReplyDeleteSHE WAS WEARING THE CUTE SHOES. Like you wouldn't do the same thing!
DeleteI loved this book! It was the ultimate fairy tale, rom-com, happy ending story! How has it not been made into a movie yet? I think it would make an excellent movie with so many opportunities for character actors. Who would play Valancy?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was so hilarious when Barney’s father was THE purple pills guy! I would’ve liked more about the John Foster situation. That should’ve been huge, but it really wasn’t.
Thank you for hosting this awesome edition of the CBBC, Engie!
Right? The John Foster thing? You'd think Valancy would have been SHOCKED and really perseverated on it. Like why wouldn't he tell her when he knew she was obsessed with Foster's writing? Egads. I did want more on that.
DeleteThank you Engie, I loved this book. I am feeling so proud of myself that I bought a physical copy.
ReplyDeleteI wanted more from Valancy than for her to go back to her stupid family's stupid house and hole up in her room, but I fully expect that if she had been there longer, she would have come up with a scheme to get the hell out of there. Maybe not though. It's barely a 20th century novel, and audiences might not have accepted a woman who supported herself and didn't end up with the man at the end.
I also figured that the letter must have been for the wrong patient, but wasn't sure how that could happen without the doctor letting her know, but I guess if HE didn't know, it would make sense. I did not like that BS was so unloving to her early on, but when I slow my role and remember that he REALLY didn't know her, I can appreciate that he grew to love her in a much more natural way. Also, he was worried that maybe she would ridicule him if she knew about his father, and that she might only want his money.
Mostly I was thrilled that she was going to travel the world! She has such an adventurous spirit, I could see her strolling in the south of France, admiring the way the light hit the trees and the fields of lavender. I want that for her.
Your bookshelf of CBBC books is going to be the only physical record of this entire enterprise! I should probably do something similar over here, but I don't want to buy books. Ha!
DeleteI guess you're right about the time period of the book. I was really expecting too much from Valancy. I was sort of comparing her to the badassness of Katie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but there is a very important twenty years between those two publishing dates.
I actually really like the slow burn romance here. Like you said, he was honest when he originally said he didn't love her, but he grew to love her. That's actually really sweet, I think.
This was so fun. I really enjoyed reading it with everyone and it made the experience so much more fun to read everyone’s thoughts.
ReplyDelete1)Well, I did expect the Barney Foster thing. And I had an inkling some sort of major thing would happen to but I thought Barney would be in peril and die.
The Redfern thing was just the biggest surprise. It was a bit over the top adding John Foster too but I guess what not. The whole book is a lot.
I also guessed that in the end they would travel the world.
I did not expect Valancy to turn up at her family’s home though.
2)Yes, I guess Barney was all in love and just a bit dense to get it until the train incident.
I guess it is human. And he came around finally. And his big declaration was also quiet elaborate - at least I imagine for this time coming from a male.
3)I wanted to kick and shout at her whole family. But specially the uncle trying to have her stay with Barney for societies and financial sake. Made me so so mad.
the mother too of course. Ice cold b****. And jealous Olive… sigh. What terrible family. I am not sure I have ever met a worse fictional family.
5) Tell me about your favorite line from this week's reading!!
I have to lines I marked:
I’d rather be miserable in heaven remembering him than happy forgetting him. (Page 247)
And
With life, fear hd come back into her heart. (Page 263)
That last line is so sad, isn't it? I wonder how many other people are out there thinking that it would be better to have a death sentence than to just have to live a life. Sheesh. Tough stuff.
Delete1) I will tell you straight up: If I hadn't seen speculation about the John Foster connection in these comments, I would have NEVER thought of that. HA! I didn't think she had a heart condition, although I really thought it was some sort of anxiety disorder but I guess they really didn't talk about stuff like that back then! I did not see the Redfern connection coming, either. I don't know if we really needed that, other than showing how greedy her family is.
ReplyDelete2) Oh, Barney's declaration of love was so sweet! I listened to this book and I kept exclaiming, "BARNEYYYY!" throughout it. I loved it so much and I'm glad Valancy found someone who loves her so much.
3) I was talking about this concept of nature/nurture with my friend who grew up with two very conservative/Fox News viewing parents but is super liberal in both her politics beliefs and the way she lives her life. Like, how did she manage to not fall into the cycle of conservatism, too? I mean, it's different for us because we have different ways of finding out new things (media) but maybe it's all the reading she did. Maybe it opened up her mind to a different way of life and that gave her some spunk. IDK!
4) This was a very satisfying ending! I want to buy the book because I can definitely see myself rereading it at some point. It was such a breath of fresh air and happiness in this dark time.
Thanks for hosting book club again, Engie! I appreciate all the work you do!
1. I think I would have made the Foster connection, but the Redfern stuff never would have occurred to me. I even looked it up during the first week of CBBC to see if it was a real Canadian thing! I didn't even imagine that it would be a plot point.
Delete2. Now we know what a romantic declaration would look like for you!
3. I'm like your friend - I grew up in a conservative military family. I am now who I am. I think it is because I escaped into books and saw a different way to live. Although my mom tells me about a time when I was 3 or 4 that my father went on an outing with some boys and I asked why I couldn't go and when she said it was because it was just for boys I said "that isn't fair" and she KNEW that I was going to be a problem for her. LOL.
4. I'm glad we chose this book for CBBC. It seems like most people did enjoy it!