#valancy sterling

[thenotcanadian]

In the L.M. Montgomery canon, there is a single book not set in some way on Prince Edward Island, and this is The Blue Castle, which is set entirely in Ontario (of all places).

For utterly unrelated reasons, The Blue Castle is also my favorite of her works, primarily because Valancy Sterling has led an utterly unremarkable life of being squished into a corner and then receives terrible news and decides "wow, fuck this" and goes INSANE (per her family, who do not deserve her and gave her a stupid nickname).

And I just think there's something lovely about a woman (deemed ugly and unwanted and undesirable and old) going out and claiming the life she's always wanted but been too scared to try and have.

And she has an absolutely marvellous time doing it, let me tell you.

[lilymaidofgallifrey]

Reasons you should read The Blue Castle

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll probably know that one of my favorite books of all time is The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. It’s my life’s mission to make everyone read it, so here are some reasons why you should:

It’s almost like a really really excellent fanfiction, I can’t say more or risk spoiling it, but trust me it really is, there are so many good tropes

Friends to lovers 

I just really like the romance in it, imagine your OTP

The characters are great even the unpleasant ones 

Valancy is a super relateable protagonist and is a massive nerd who loves books. She also uses her imagination as an escape mechanism #Icanrelate

The book is basically about discovering you have agency and that it’s never too late to get out there and live your best life regardless of the people trying to hold you back 

Valancy is such a nice person 

She’s also 29, so quite a bit older than most of Montgomery’s heroines, and I really like it. I think this book really conveys how you might think life is getting away from you when you hit your late 20s, but actually you’re still super young and you have so much ahead of you so just go and live your dreams 

Involves a triumphant escape from emotionally abusive relations 

The characters are great. LM Montgomery is spectacular at writing odious relations and petty social drama 

Hilarious and snarky but also deeply heartwarming  

So much great nature stuff

The descriptions are so good you guys 

Seriously, the more I think about this book the more it seems like a super good fanfiction, which is probably why I’ve read it like 15 times 

I’m totally biased, but if I’m sad and I read this book I feel  better afterwards 

Angst with a happy ending 

Doing things to shock your terrible relatives and it’s amazing

PLOT TWISTS

Putting yourself out there and getting what you want 

I can’t tell you all the good bits because it will spoil it so I guess you’ll just have to read it yourself, I’m not joking, you will not regret it 

Seriously, go read it

If I was stuck on a desert island and could only take one book with me it would be this one