BOOK REVIEW: I Capture the Castle Rating: * * * *

Dodie Smith's, I Capture the Castle is about a young girl, who keeps a diary detailing her impoverished life with her father, stepmother and brother in an English castle. The characters are warm and endearing, the dialect is easy to understand and the plot moves about in a Jane Eyre sort of way. Published originally in 1948, this book portrays all of the innocence of an era long ago, but also serves to remind the reader that times may change, but adolesence does not. Girls still get crushes, and worry over what to wear and boys are still hard to understand. I enjoyed reading this book in the respect that I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre. The innocence of the period is so enchanting and as English novels often do, it makes one wish for a window seat on a rainy afternoon and a nice cup of tea. I had a frumpy sofa, a giggling 11 month old and a large cup of coffee but at least I got some reading in.