The Blue Castle

By: L. M. Montgomery

Narrated by: Anne Hancock

On her 29th birthday, Valency Stirling awakens to a life that she knows will never change. Under the thumb of an autocratic mother and a poor relation in a large domineering family, for years her only refuge has been in her dreams of a mystical Blue Castle, where beauty and kindness reign.

To add to her bleak future, she's experiencing heart spasms. Visiting a doctor without the approval of her clan is a daring act but Valency seeks out the local heart specialist in secret. The result is dire: she has one year to live. Shocking as the news is, the specter of death isn't nearly as upsetting as the realization that she hasn't yet really lived.

Ever docile and obedient, she's now compelled to tell her relatives exactly what she thinks of them. Her mother's disapproval and silences have no effect on her. Her curiosity about the natural world, dormant for years under strict rules of behavior, is set free.

As her world opens, she finds a purpose in her life as she makes friends with the town reprobate, his disgraced daughter, and a man of dubious reputation. The lush Canadian pine woods beckon. Certainly, an unlikely place to find a Blue Castle?

Public Domain (P)2021 Anne Hancock

The blue castle

I love this book and the narrator that read this story. Recommend it for anyone who wants to relax with a happy little story.

a gem!

Another delightful story by LM Montgomery. it is enthralling from beginning to end with unique characters that you won't soon forget.

Classic

Such a lovely story with so much to chew on. Sweet, classic, and the kind you can reread.

Loved it.

I enjoyed every minute of this sweet story. It was beautifully voiced by Anne Hancock.

Wonderful story

I enjoyed this story, it dragged a little at first, but important to get her life situation. But I’ve listened to it a few times I love it more each time.

Best book I’ve read in a long time!

I just finished it a few minutes ago and that book was just beautiful! I absolutely loved it!!! It was magical, a little sad but the ending was AMAZING. I would recommend this book to anyone.

So Sweet

I read and listen to a lot of historical fiction. I needed something happy and this fit. It was a bit old fashioned, but that made it sweeter.

Dreary in every sense

The writing is completely flat, manufacturing a story with one-dimensional characters that are all lifeless opinionated stereotypes, including the heroine even though she's supposedly somehow "superior" to everyone because she daydreams of a blue castle full of suitors who covet her beauty and fascination, not a drop of which is evident in her actual personality in the real world. I felt imprisoned from the start, but kept listening because it was LM Montgomery, you know, and the reviews were glowing, But I didn't get very far before I simply couldn't stand it anymore.

The narrator is one of my favorites when she reads Grace Livingston Hill, but no one could redeem this dismal "story" which felt more like being trapped in the author's mind, who uses the heroine to promote her world view, which is decidedly not Christian. In her own words: "So far, my creed is the old Persian creed of the eternal conflict between Ahrimanes and Ormuzd." Whatever. As far as this book goes, IMO it's NOT good.