the castle I didn't like
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This book is a kind of "Pride and Prejudice "in which Darcy and Bingley don't know which sister they prefer: either Jane or Elizabeth.
Their love affairs seem to depend on pure chance: they don't know their own feelings: is it love, attraction or pure boredom that brought them togother? (I tends to think it's only boredom)
And what about the ending? everything is open. Cassandra is open to anything (I mean again: she was so throught the whole book anyway...)so what's the point?
I was glad to close such a book!!
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recommended reading for female from 15 to 90
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What a lovely story! I wasn't expecting much because the only thing I knew about Dodi Smith was that she had written 101 Dalmatians -- a children's story. However,I was totally encharnted with this book. It's a delightful read for women of any age and I have bought copies for both my nieces who are 14 and 15 and also recommend it to my mother. It has interesting social history, romance and is beautifully written. What more could you ask for?
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Lose Yourself - it`s "smashing" !
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What a lovely story ! This is a book which really is for all ages except very young. Had I read it as a child/teenager I know I would have loved it then too. The story is so vividly told that in just a few pages you are transported to a green & gentle 1930`s England, when good manners mattered & people said "smashing" & "jolly good". You can see it, taste it, & smell it- I`m sure my pulse rate actually slowed ! Even though Cassandra -the central character- & her family's fairly desperate lack of cash is quite a key point,this is no depressing tale of poverty.
As the gist of the story has been described perfectly in other reviews I`ll skip that here, but would like to say that even (maybe especially?)if like me you are a fairly cynical female of 40+ this is a book which I really think you will find deserves to be called "charming".
It is also lively, funny, thoughtful, poignant, gentle, touching, clever, & totally captivating- story telling at it`s very best.
If you have a real fire, light it, make yourself a mug of cocoa, then curl up with this book & lose yourself in a gentler world. As Cassandra herself might say- "smashing" !
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It captures my castle - and my heart
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What a joy this book is to find! I was lent it by a friend and had seen the film a few years ago. Beautifully, masterfully written, with a thundering page-turner of a plot, the characters are as real as any you meet in person.
Just buy it, fill your bath and ENJOY every paragraph. I wish I could find more by this author......
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Well written and atmospheric
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The castle is well and truly captured! I saw the castle and I saw the people in it but more than anything, I felt the penury which had descended on the family because of Mortmain's writer's block. Without that understanding of the hand to mouth (if only!) existance you can't empathise with Rose but with it, Rose's behaviour becomes completely rational. This is an excellent well-written multi-layered book. I felt absolutely satisfied when I came to the end. Just what a good book should be.
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