For some unknown reason I had managed to get completely the wrong idea about I Capture The Castle. I'd avoided reading it for years because I expected a kind of boys own adventure for younger readers! When I spotted a cheap paperback in a Torquay charity shop earlier this year however, I actually read the synopsis and realised my mistake! I'm so glad I did because I love this novel!

A vivid coming of age story, the title I Capture The Castle refers to our heroine, Cassandra who is attempting to hone her writing skills by capturing in prose all the details of her somewhat eccentric family and their life of genteel poverty in a ruined castle. Despite the perpetual cold and lack of sufficient food, I was absolutely entranced by the castle! The history of the place and the idea of its varied rooms and towers totally captured my imagination. I think if I could have a fictional upbringing, something similar to Cassandra's environment would be amazing!

The narrative does focus on the need for women to marry well and we see Cassandra's sister, Rose, set her sights on the new Lord of the Manor, Simon. Smith doesn't take the predictable route though and I loved her character portrayals of everyone from shy Simon to abrasive Leda Fox-Cotton. Dialogue crackles off the page and I appreciated seeing how Cassandra matures from little more than a child at the beginning of her journals to very much a young woman by the end. A wonderful novel and a deserved classic.