Valancy Bobs Her Hair

My new antidepressant

[alrauna]

“Under The Moonlight” Art by Gilbert Williams

[bewareofitalics]

I've been thinking about older Valancy and realized I was picturing her as Susan Watson from this album cover:

And when I was looking up that photo, I found this, with a Valancy-esque one from her younger days:

And here she is in a 1920s (by way of 1970s Broadway) bathing suit in No, No, Nanette:

And a more buttoned-up Nanette costume:

If there had been a Blue Castle musical in the late '60s-early '70s, she might've been a good choice for the lead!

[buttercups-in-a-golden-frenzy]

Valancy as an elf

"She wore her green dress and her green hat because she had nothing else to wear. She did not look or feel at all bride-like—she really looked like a wild elf strayed out of the greenwood. But that did not matter. Nothing at all mattered except that Barney was coming for her."

@dustpileofherown

[agoodhandwriting]

The House on the Bosphorus (Forbidden Love) by Halid Ziya Usakligil; Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Douglas ScottBrookes; Fore

For fans of Madame Bovary, Bridgerton, and Madonna in a Fur Coat: a beloved Turkish novel—the most famous in Ottoman literature—about the ro

It is happening…

@literatureismyentirepersonality @litteraeignotae @princesssarisa @truthfullymad @artemideaddams

[wildhoneyvalancy]

My favorite Turkish novel is finally being published in English and everyone should know.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

I have found it in the most random bookshop, while not even searching for it.

[thedogbard]

blue castle book notes

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

OH. Oh, we’re here. It’s the end of the book, the tiny tiny chapter that leaves me wanting sequels. I’d have happily read an entire series of Valancy and Barney going around the world together.

“Don’t cry, Moonlight. We’ll be back next summer. And now we’re off for a real honeymoon.”

Valancy smiled through her tears. She was so happy that her happiness terrified her.

I can see this as a movie scene too-

-she knew perfectly well that no spot or place or home in the world could ever possess the sorcery of her Blue Castle.

I love the word ‘sorcery’ here. Not ‘comfort’, or home, or memories, or safety. But sorcery. It’s where things happened, magical landscapes, a bewitching domesticity, the place where Valancy experienced magic.

AND IT’S SUCH A GOOD ENDING. There’s no more to read because they’re not in the Blue Castle anymore.

THE END.

*cries*

Seriously though, this is SUCH a good book. It was the book that younger-me needed to read - specifically, needed to read on 30th December when I was envious because my friend was at a wedding and I stayed up late and read the entire book in one go, curled up on a sofa near to a dying fire. The independence and Valancy’s loneliness and the worlds she built inside her head, and her bravery and her decisions to live her life and the way she finds someone she can love with all her heart - I needed to read that book, at that age. I loved reading Jane Eyre, I cried over Villette, but I don’t think I ever felt so entirely seen, and related to a character, as much as Valancy. My only complaints are that I wish it was bigger and I wish we could have seen more detail of all the scenes that only mentioned, like Barney’s cold or when they went to the ball. But then again, fanfics!!!

 And the fanfics I’ve read have been truly extraordinary too. Barney and Valancy are some of my favourite characters I’ve ever read about, and getting to reread this book and examine it more closely has been such fun! *jumps up and down* I’ve loved doing the blue castle book club!

If there’s any fandom events or fic challenges or anything like that I’d LOVE to participate! And thank you all so much for being such friendly fellow Blue Castle-ites! (I’m pretty sure my posts have never gotten so many likes as my Blue Castle ones).

*the movie fades to black while watchers are left crying and making GIFs of Barney and Valancy embracing and invisible string by TS plays*

[thesweetnessofspring]

Don't cry, darling ^honeysweet Moonlight^

LMM shuffling through the terms of endearment that Barney calls Valancy—"darling" which amazed her; "honeysweet" (maybe because Valancy inspired his Wild Honey?); and finally her own unique term of endearment, "Moonlight."

[wildhoneyvalancy]

Commentary on Chapter 45 of The Blue Castle

I will travel tomorrow and I want to get this over with as quickly as possible, albeit with a heavy heart.

I said all the more intelligent things I can say about this last chapter here:

Post by @wildhoneyvalancy · 1 image

💬 0  🔁 6  ❤️ 17 · “Valancy smiled through her tears. She was so happy that her happiness terrified her. But, despite the delights before her

But there are still a couple of things:

“Cousin Georgiana was going to take care of them until Barney and Valancy came back. Aunt Wellington and Cousin Sarah and Aunt Alberta had also entreated the privilege of looking after them, but to Cousin Georgiana was it given.”

I am glad that Cousin Georgiana is recognized for her kindness to Valancy and rewarded for it, in true fairy-tale fashion.

“Valancy was in tears.”

As I said in my commentary on Chapter 43, I kind of like Valancy being in tears even during her happy ending. This is compelling.

Do we agree with the literary critics saying that Valancy’s wit and character kind of get “neutered” after her marriage to Barney? I wouldn’t go as far as “after marriage to Barney” but she does become more passive in the last chapters.

“But, despite the delights before her—‘the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome’—lure of the ageless Nile—glamour of the Riviera—mosque and palace and minaret”

Again, they will visit both East and West and the stress at the end is actually on the (Islamic) East: mosque, palace (Alhambra) and minaret.

“she knew perfectly well that no spot or place or home in the world could ever possess the sorcery of her Blue Castle.”

She will never be as carefree.

THE END

[wildhoneyvalancy]

I am not ready for the last chapter 😢

[kingedmundsroyalmurder]

I love Olive so much. She is absolutely my Problematic Fav of the book, and this chapter is most of why. She's just the right combination of catty and exhasperated and clear-eyed. She sees exactly what's going on, she is extremely annoyed about it, and she will absolutely stoop to petty gossip about the whole thing.

(Olive absolutely has a career as a 1930something Lady Whistledown if she wants one.)

I do think eventually Olive and Valancy could figure out how to have a better relationship, once both of them get some distance from each other and their family. Valancy's halfway there already, and if Olive can get out of her mother's house and actually be her own person in her marriage, I think they've got a fighting chance at finding some solidarity. If nothing else, they can bond over their uncles being absolute naked hypocrites about Valancy's husband.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

Commentary on Chapter 44 of The Blue Castle

The long-awaited penultimate chapter!

I am very glad this chapter exists. It manages to simultaneously be both Valancy’s last laugh over Olive and be the most interesting characterization that Olive, our primary “rival” character, gets. It does reveal her to be quite clever and self-aware in her own way.

It is also nice to see Valarney from the outside.

“Or perhaps Snaith or Redfern or whatever his name really is fed Purple Pills to her, back in that Mistawis hut and cured her. It would make quite a testimonial for the family ads, wouldn’t it?”

So, Olive seems to share Ethel’s disdain for the Redfern business unlike the rest of the Stirlings.

There might exist a draft somewhere in which Olive and Ethel were the same character. @kingedmundsroyalmurder wrote that AU excellently for us. But it wouldn’t quite work in canon. Stirlings and Ethel Travers are not of the same social class. Still, Olive and Ethel are the same “type”.

“He’s such an insignificant-looking creature.”

Barney is not conventionally handsome. Vindication!

“I mentioned this to Doss but all she said was, ‘I don’t like collar ad men.’”

Why are you saying this to her about her husband Olive 😭?

“I really think, Cecil, you should exercise more. It doesn’t do to get too fleshy.”

Evidently Cecil has a dad bod.

“Not in that dreadful old Lizzie, though. Redfern has got a wonderful new car.”

Oh no! I made them still drive Lady Jane in my fanfic I think!

“Well, I think I’ll run away, too, and disgrace myself. It seems to pay.”

Cecil is clearly not marrying Olive soon enough.

“Uncle Ben is a scream. Likewise Uncle James. The fuss they all make over Doss now is absolutely sickening. To hear Aunt Amelia talking of ‘my son-in-law, Bernard Redfern’ and ‘my daughter, Mrs. Bernard Redfern.’ Mother and Father are as bad as the rest. And they can’t see that Valancy is just laughing at them all in her sleeve.”

At least Olive is clear-eyed. She notices Valancy is laughing at them. She recognized Valancy’s charisma when she bumped into her in Chapter 21 too.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

My Ranking of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Books I Have Read So Far

1- The Blue Castle (Anne of Green Gables is maybe a better-executed book, but TBC actually took me out of a very depressive state, so it is special for me.)

2- Anne of Green Gables (legitimately a great novel)

3- Anne’s House of Dreams (haven’t finished it yet but I really like its side characters and its darker tone)

4- Anne of the Island (fun)

5- Anne of Windy Poplars (not as bad as it was made out to be)

6- Anne of Avonlea (I found it kind of dull, sorry)

[wildhoneyvalancy]

I have finished Anne’s House of Dreams. My ranking is still the same.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

From Anne’s House of Dreams

Valancy and Barney had sex between Chapter 26 and Chapter 27 Vol. 2344

Also, poor Cissy Gay and her white roses :((

[wildhoneyvalancy]

“And our autumns travelling. I want you to see the Alhambra—it’s the nearest thing to the Blue Castle of your dreams I can think of. And there’s an old-world garden in Italy where I want to show you the moon rising over Rome through the dark cypress-trees.”

“Will that be any lovelier than the moon rising over Mistawis?”

“Not lovelier. But a different kind of loveliness. There are so many kinds of loveliness. Valancy, before this year you’ve spent all your life in ugliness. You know nothing of the beauty of the world. We’ll climb mountains—hunt for treasures in the bazaars of Samarcand—search out the magic of east and west—run hand in hand to the rim of the world.”

Montgomery typically likes and worships Western Civilization: Greco-Roman mythology and Victorian writers are her main references, and beauty is always “white”.

So as someone from the “East”, I appreciate that in this novel the protagonists value the East (specifically Islamic East - Alhambra and Samarcand) as well as Rome. Also remember that Valancy’s eyes had “a slant that was almost Oriental”.

I am not someone who bemoans of “Orientalism” when I encounter enthusiasm about Eastern cultures like Barney’s, and find it tiring when people do that. I like it when people appreciate my culture or cultures similar to it. It is certainly better than them hating, fearing or ignoring my part of the world.

***

What about a journal article named “A Different Kind of Loveliness”: Orientalist Imagery in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s The Blue Castle”? This writes itself.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

“Valancy smiled through her tears. She was so happy that her happiness terrified her. But, despite the delights before her—‘the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome’—lure of the ageless Nile—glamour of the Riviera—mosque and palace and minaret—she knew perfectly well that no spot or place or home in the world could ever possess the sorcery of her Blue Castle.”

(The Blue Castle, Chapter 45)

I have two somewhat contradictory observations about this last paragraph:

1) There is a cosmopolitanism to Valancy and Barney that I quite like. They went to the Chinese restaurant during their first months of “friendship” and now they will travel around the world, both East and West. They are the hip cosmopolitan modern couple in contrast with the narrow-minded and small and traditional Stirling clan. Valancy’s looks were racialized and she was speculated to be a changeling because of both her eyes and her modern ways too:

I like this thoroughline. If this book was published today a certain insufferable type of person would call it “woke propaganda”.

2) Of course there is still the sentiment of “home sweet home” in the very last line that somewhat contradicts the cosmopolitanism and the sense of adventure that came just before, but I think that sentiment isn’t at its core just about the natural beauty of Mistawis. It is mostly about the fact while theirs is a very happy ending, there will always be something special about those carefree few months they spent in their own little world. Now in their marriage they will have to deal with Stirlings and Doc. Redfern and money and babies and society. They will probably be happy, but there will be caveats and responsibilities of adulthood.

And I love this. This is a wish-fulfillment book. It is a fairy tale. The ending is incredibly gloriously happy. But even in this immense happiness Montgomery doesn’t neglect to add a tiny touch of bittersweet nostalgia to the last sentence.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

Commentary on Chapter 43 of The Blue Castle

“And his money isn’t tainted money. He made it honestly. His medicines are quite harmless. Even his Purple Pills do people whole heaps of good when they believe in them.”

I don’t buy this, sorry. I think it is “tainted money”. I do understand why this paragraph is here though.

“But—I’m not fit for your life,” sighed Valancy. “I’m not—clever—or well-educated—or——”

“My life is in Mistawis—and all the wild places of the world. I’m not going to ask you to live the life of a society woman. Of course, we must spend a bit of the time with Dad—he’s lonely and old——”

Yes, I do wish he would call her “clever” :(. Though, to his credit, he did call her “witty” in the previous chapter.

“I couldn’t live in that house myself. It has a white marble stairway with gilt bannisters and looks like a furniture shop with the labels off.”

Again, the gaudiness of Doc Redfern’s tastes is always a fun detail.

“And our autumns travelling. I want you to see the Alhambra—it’s the nearest thing to the Blue Castle of your dreams I can think of. And there’s an old-world garden in Italy where I want to show you the moon rising over Rome through the dark cypress-trees.”

“Will that be any lovelier than the moon rising over Mistawis?”

“Not lovelier. But a different kind of loveliness. There are so many kinds of loveliness. Valancy, before this year you’ve spent all your life in ugliness. You know nothing of the beauty of the world. We’ll climb mountains—hunt for treasures in the bazaars of Samarcand—search out the magic of east and west—run hand in hand to the rim of the world.”

Montgomery typically likes and worships Western Civilization: Greco-Roman mythology and Victorian writers are her main references, and beauty is always “white”.

So as someone from the “East”, I appreciate that in this novel the protagonists value the East (specifically Islamic East - Alhambra and Samarcand) as well as Rome. Also remember that Valancy’s eyes had “a slant that was almost Oriental”.

I am not someone who bemoans of “Orientalism” when I encounter enthusiasm about Eastern cultures like Barney’s, and find it tiring when people do that. I like it when people appreciate my culture or cultures similar to it. It is certainly better than them hating, fearing or ignoring my part of the world.

“And we must see about that picture by Tierney, after all.”

Now that they can buy it…

“Will you promise me one thing?” asked Valancy solemnly.

“Anything,” said Barney recklessly.

“Only one thing. You are never, under any circumstances or under any provocation, to cast it up to me that I asked you to marry me.”

This is wise of Valancy. It is really the kind of thing people can cast up in a fight six years later.

Also, there is something about this chapter ending that I like: Valancy is getting everything, but she is still worried and solemn and insecure. Even the prospect of traveling the world with Prince Charming the Millionaire can’t immediately erase 29 years of being in the sidelines.

[theincorrigiblemagpie]

I suppose this is very 19-mumbles of the book but I can't imagine this number of people sneering at someone for being a millionaire’s son today. It's just one of the ways in which the world has drastically changed.

Today, if some nepo kid talked about being bullied for his dad's business empire, thousands of people would play the world's tiniest violin on social media. People are barely embarrassed to say they work at Palantir, etc let alone something so innocuous being a problem. The Redferns MAY have gotten cancelled temporarily for animal testing AT MOST. Even that I doubt.

[wildhoneyvalancy]

I think they are not sneering at him for being a millionaire, they are primarily sneering at him for being “new money” - “money can’t buy you a grandfather”.