I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

About the Book

I Capture the Castle was first published in 1949 and is set in the British countryside of the 1930s. 'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' is the famous first line of this witty and moving classic about a girl reaching adulthood and experiencing love for the first time.

Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere and records her extraordinary life with her bohemian and impoverished family in a series of journals. She vividly, and frankly, depicts her life with her odd and enchanting family. The household consists of her little brother Thomas, her beautiful, bored sister, Rose, her fadingly glamorous stepmother, Topaz, who enjoys walking the grounds naked at night, and her eccentric novelist father who keeps them all in poverty as a result of his writer's block. Finally, there is Stephen, dazzlingly handsome and consumed with unrequited love for Cassandra.

Cassandra's journals describe how the Mortmain's isolated existence is radically altered when the American heirs to the castle arrive, bringing new romantic opportunities for both sisters.

Author Biography

Dorothy Gladys “Dodie” Smith was born on May 3rd 1896 in Whitefield, Lancashire, England. From an early age Dodie was surrounded by the arts. Her uncle was an actor and Dodie would eventually become considered one of the most successful female dramatists of her generation. Her father, Ernest Smith, died when Dodie was a baby and her mother remarried when Dodie was 14.

Dodie married Alec Beesley in 1939 and moved to the United Sates. It was in the US that her first novel I Capture the Castle was written. It is heralded as her crossover from playwright to novelist. The novel became a success and was produced as a play in 1954.

Smith died in 1990 in the U.S. While she has written numerous other novels and plays, she is perhaps best known today for The Hundred and One Dalmatians. The book, later adapted into the Disney films, was inspired by Dodie’s own Dalmatian named Pongo.

Want to know more about Dodie Smith? She also wrote her own autobiography. Check out Smith’s first autobiography Look by with Love on AbeBooks.

Other Works by Dodie Smith

Did you know?

I Capture the Castle was made in to a movie in 2003 and opened July 11. Although it opened in limited release it was favourably reviewed.

Reading Guide

1. As I Capture the Castle is made up of Cassandra's diaries, she is 'captured' in the novel just as much as she herself endeavours to 'capture' life in the castle. In what ways does Cassandra change during the months the novel covers?
2. "Which would be nicest - Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?"' Cassandra repeatedly refers to Pride and Prejudice. Can you identify examples of the influence of Jane Austen and/or Charlotte Brontë in Dodie Smith's writing? How do the other references to literature in the novel affect your reading?
3. Consider the attitudes to class depicted in the novel. In what ways can the Mortmains be seen to be a particularly modern family and in what ways do their attitudes reflect the standards of the time?
4. 'The only Henry James novel I ever tried to read was What Maisie Knew, when I was about nine - I expected it to be a book for children.' I Capture the Castle is seen as a classic example of crossover literature which appeals to both adults and children. What other examples of this sort of writing have you come across and how do they compare with I Capture the Castle?
5. Compare Cassandra's feelings about her home and the countryside with her experiences in London?
6. 'It is a pity that Simon is the heir, because Rose thinks the beard is disgusting; but perhaps we can get it off.' How do you feel about the way men are portrayed in this novel?