I Capture the Castle book by Dodie Smith

I want to put you on to this absolute treat of a novel. When those who know this book see it on my shelf, instant rapport. I have recommended it to scads of people and the feedback is always, "why don't more people know about this?"

(Dodie Smith wrote 101 Damations, but don't let that influence you too much. I Capture the Castle is far more of an Austonian experience than a Disney one. I does share a madcap humor and sense of the ridiculous.)

In the 1930s, seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain and her beautiful sister Rose are cooped up in a decrepit English castle with their nutty father, a dissolute novelist looking to recapture past success, and his witchy, bohemian new wife. The girls are essentially trapped in chilly, eccentric poverty, without propects, until a pair of rich American brothers move in next door.

The film version is also excellent. It features a baby Henry Cavill in a small but key role. But read the book! It will delight you.