What is I Capture the Castle book about?
I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries.
When was I Capture the Castle first published?
1948I Capture the Castle / Originally published
When did Dodie Smith write I Capture the Castle?
She was still homesick for England, though, as reflected in her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948). She is perhaps best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a hugely popular childrens book that has been made into a string of very successful animated films by Walt Disney.
What is the main theme of I Capture the Castle?
I Capture the Castle is quintessential bildungsroman as Smith refuses to wield the theme of Cassandra's coming-of-age to a love story; rather, any love story is secondary to her heroine's process of emerging from childhood into young adulthood as a writer.
What age is I Capture the Castle suitable for?
What Parents Need to Know. Parents need to know that I Capture the Castle, a lost classic by the author of The Hundred and One Dalmatians, was originally published for an adult audience but is appropriate for today's young teens and older.
Where was Capture the Castle filmed?
Production. Parts of the film were shot in Laxey film studio on the Isle of Man. Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, supplied exteriors for the castle, and Eltham Palace in London some interiors.
Does Cassandra marry Simon?
Austen would have ended this story with a double wedding. After an appropriate length of time, Simon would fall for Cassandra, and the Mortmains would still be able to benefit from his patronage of their father's literary efforts. But Simon doesn't marry Cassandra.
Who does Rose marry in I Capture the Castle?
SimonSo it's a godsend when two extremely eligible American brothers, Simon and Neil Cotton, become the Mortmain's new landlords and come to visit. In an appropriate move for an Austen-obsessed young woman, Rose immediately decides she will marry Simon, the richer elder brother.
What happens to Stephen in I Capture the Castle?
Stephen moves to London permanently to pursue a career in modeling and acting. Simon frequently visits the castle and proposes that Cassandra come with him to America for the winter. Though she still loves him, Cassandra refuses, knowing he still loves Rose.
Is I Capture the Castle sad?
I really loved this book, and was sad when it ended. The plot is sweet, captivating and has an unpredictable revelation within it. It is written as a journal that has been styled as a novel, which is a rather confusing concept but which provides the reader with a unique, refreshing style of writing.
Does I Capture the Castle have romance?
5.0 out of 5 stars Unashamedly romantic, enchantingly written. In my Vintage edition of 'I Capture the Castle' there is an introduction by the excellent Valerie Grove in which she tells of Dodie Smith writing this, her first novel, in California in 1945 in 'a fever of nostalgia' for England.
What are the questions that needs to be considered in writing a book review explain each questions thoroughly?
20 Questions to Ask When Writing a Book ReviewWhat audience am I writing for? ... What audience is the author writing for? ... What genres/subgenres does this fit into? ... Was I confused at any point while reading? ... Did I care about the characters? ... Did it have a compelling plot? ... Was the dialogue believable?More items...•
Is I Capture the Castle sad?
I really loved this book, and was sad when it ended. The plot is sweet, captivating and has an unpredictable revelation within it. It is written as a journal that has been styled as a novel, which is a rather confusing concept but which provides the reader with a unique, refreshing style of writing.
Who does Rose marry in I Capture the Castle?
SimonSo it's a godsend when two extremely eligible American brothers, Simon and Neil Cotton, become the Mortmain's new landlords and come to visit. In an appropriate move for an Austen-obsessed young woman, Rose immediately decides she will marry Simon, the richer elder brother.
What happens to Stephen in I Capture the Castle?
Stephen moves to London permanently to pursue a career in modeling and acting. Simon frequently visits the castle and proposes that Cassandra come with him to America for the winter. Though she still loves him, Cassandra refuses, knowing he still loves Rose.
Does I Capture the Castle have romance?
5.0 out of 5 stars Unashamedly romantic, enchantingly written. In my Vintage edition of 'I Capture the Castle' there is an introduction by the excellent Valerie Grove in which she tells of Dodie Smith writing this, her first novel, in California in 1945 in 'a fever of nostalgia' for England.
What happens at the first meeting of the Cottons?
At the first meeting, the Cottons find the Mortmains amusing, but Rose’s awkward and obvious flirting uts them off. The brothers plan to avoid interacting with the family, but Cassandra conspires to bring them back and convince them to give Rose a second chance.
How many study guides are there for I Capture the Castle?
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Who owns the castle in Mortmains?
The family’s life is upended when the Cottons, a wealthy family from America, inherit the nearby Scoatney Hall. Scoatney is the owner of the castle, which makes the Cottons the Mortmains’ new landlords. They have two sons, both unmarried, named Simon and Neil, and Cassandra and Rose soon become fascinated by them.
When does I Capture the Castle take place?
I Capture the Castle takes place over a six-month period, from April to October in an unidentified year in the 2930s. The Mortmain family is genteel and eccentric, but have fallen into severe poverty. Cassandra introduces the reader to the rest of her family. Her father James is a once-successful author who now suffers from severe writer’s block.
Who is Dodie Smith?
Dodie Smith was a British author and playwright, best known for her popular novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, which was adapted multiple times by Disney into popular American films.
Who is the narrator of I Capture the Castle?
It is narrated by Cassandra Mortmain, a sharp teenager who tells her family’s story through journal entries as she changes from girl to woman and goes through many key milestones in a girl’s life. A classic example of the coming-of-age story, I Capture the Castle explores themes of love, faith and religion, creativity, ...
Who wrote the book "I Capture the Castle"?
I Capture the Castle is a novel by British author Dodie Smith, written during World War II and first published in 1948. Inspired by the author’s longing for home when she and her husband were living abroad in California, it centers on an eccentric family, the Mortmains, and their life in a run-down castle during the 1930s.
Book Details
One of the 20th Century's most beloved novels is still winning hearts! I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills.
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Where is the well in the castle?
The well is below the kitchen floor and has been there since the earliest days of the castle; it has been supplying water for six hundred years and is said never to have run dry. Of course, there must have been many pumps. The present one arrived when the Victorian hot-water system (alleged) was put in.
Who wrote the poem "To Miss Cassandra"?
Then he dropped a tightly folded bit of paper on this journal. My heart sank, because I knew it would contain a poem; I suppose he has been working on it in the barn. It is written in his careful, rather beautiful script. The heading is, “‘To Miss Cassandra’ by Stephen Colly.” It is a charming poem—by Robert Herrick.
What did Rose say about money?
Rose said: “I should have thought it was worth while to have a little trouble in order to earn some real money.”
How old is Cassandra Mortmain?
The film follows 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain, and her eccentric family, struggling to survive in genteel poverty in a decaying English castle.
Who is the lead in I Capture the Castle?
It is based on the 1948 novel of the same title by Dodie Smith, with the screenplay written by Heidi Thomas. The film was released in the UK on 9 May 2003. Romola Garai played the lead role of Cassandra Mortmain alongside Bill Nighy, ...
When was I Capture the Castle made?
I Capture the Castle is a 2003 British film directed by Tim Fywell. It is based on the 1948 novel of the same title by Dodie Smith, with the screenplay written by Heidi Thomas. The film was released in the UK on 9 May 2003.
Who is Simon Cotton's brother?
The possibility of salvation seems to loom in the form of their wealthy American landlord Simon Cotton and his brother Neil. Although Simon initially spurns her, Rose is determined to make him fall in love with her and succeeds. A wedding is arranged and Cassandra appears left on the sidelines.
What is the book I Capture the Castle about?
I Capture the Castle is the kind of novel dreamy adolescents curl up with on rainy Saturdays, imagining themselves as members of a poor but brilliantly eccentric family living in a decrepit English castle. It's that kind of movie, too, about a sublimely impractical family given to sudden dramatic outbursts. It's a romance ever so much more inspiring for teenage girls than the materialist propaganda they get from Hollywood, teaching them to value genius above accessories. And there's a serious undercurrent; this story was close to the heart of the author, Dodie Smith, whose other novel, 101 Dalmatians, was more light-hearted and aimed at younger readers.
Who played Kate in Nicholas Nickleby?
The first-time director, Tim Fywell, handles his material with an excusable fondness for the eccentricities of his characters, but generates touching emotion through the plight of Cassandra, who is honest and true, and finds her way almost blindly through the labyrinth of love, trusting her best instincts. Romola Garai, who was Kate in " Nicholas Nickleby ," is heart-winning in the role.
Who is the narrator of the Mortmains?
The Mortmains are: James ( Bill Nighy ), the father who seems to be going around the bend; his wife, Topaz ( Tara Fitzgerald ), a long-tressed artist; younger sister Cassandra ( Romola Garai ), who is the narrator, and the official family beauty, Rose ( Rose Byrne ), who is so impatient with poverty that at one point she runs out into the rain and announces she plans to sell herself on the streets and will borrow the train fare to the city from the vicar.
