One-sentence summary: A teenage girl who lives in a castle in England in the 1930-40s chronicles her life in her journal including meeting the new inhabitants of the adjacent estate who bring with them excitement and her first experience with love.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8
Our favorite thing about it: We loved the sharp, witty writing, which we all agreed was top-notch. We also really enjoyed the eccentric castle setting and the engaging main character, Cassandra, who is also the narrator.
Our least favorite thing about it: A few of us thought the book started off slow and the action took a while to build. Also, some of us did not like the ending, which, although it is not sad, leaves the reader with many questions as to what happens next.
Main Topics of Discussion: Love, Unrequited love, family, responsibility, imagery, setting, journaling, relationships
Our favorite quote: “Just to be in love seemed the most blissful luxury I had ever known. The thought came to me that perhaps it is the loving that counts, not the being loved in return – that perhaps true loving can never know anything but happiness. For a moment I felt that I had discovered a great truth.”
Notes: We all enjoyed reading this book and following Cassandra’s story. We agreed that the setting of the castle lends itself to the story and really sets the stage for the eccentricities of her family and the occurrences within. The writing was so evocative visually and we especially connected with the musings and description of the dinner party.
As far as characters, we discussed almost all of them. We thought Topaz’s name was fitting and were amused by her character and how the author rounds out her personality nicely with the revelation of her hard work for the family around the castle. Mortimain makes a funny and frustrating father and we wondered at his lack of a sense of responsibility for his family. And we wondered if he really was crazy. We all agreed that Rose was annoying and self-centered. We did not appreciate the way she acted as a character. We were amused with Miss Blossom and her bluntness and way with wording the truth! We absolutely loved Stephen and thought that maybe he was a tad bit too perfect. We all willed Cassandra to love him as we were reading the book.
As far as plot, we were shocked by the development of Neil and Rose’s relationship. None of us predicted that. We were all puzzled by Simon kissing Cassandra. We could not figure out what he thought of her and why he would have done that if he was so in love with Rose. We discussed the boldness of Cassandra and Thomas when they imprisoned their father and if we would have taken such drastic measures in such a situation. As indicated in our favorite quote, the plot is replete with cases of unrequited love: Stephen for Cassandra, Simon for Rose, Cassandra for Simon and perhaps a couple of others.
Memorable Meeting Moments: This meeting took place in Becky’s new house. Since they haven’t moved in yet, we had a camp-out of sorts complete with camping chairs in the middle of her empty living room. We were honored to have our meeting in her new space and get the grand tour.
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