6 Lovely Little Novels That Nobody's Heard Of (Yet)
Try out these amazing (if less-than-famous) tales and spread the word!
1 of 6
I Capture the Castle
By Dodie Smith
352 pages;
St. Martin's Griffin
I
Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (famed writer of
The Hundred and One Dalmatians) is one of those
overlooked gems that manages to touch on everything that is exquisitely
painful about falling in love with someone who's not in love with you
and yet make it sound so delightful that you want to do it all over
again. It's set, appropriately, in and around a derelict English castle
in the years after World War I. The protagonist, Cassandra Mortmain, the
middle child of an impoverished intellectual family, reflects, wryly
and thoughtfully, on how her life changes when two wealthy brothers move
into the manor house nearby. There are first dances, trips to London,
thwarted loves and the wonderful growth of an adolescent into a
thoughtful, deeply tender yet never gushy adult. If you're dreading the
end of Downton Abbey, it's okay. The romances of this
witty heroine—English as English can be but in a practical,
post-war sort of way—will soothe your withdrawal symptoms
straightaway.
— Nathalie Gorman
Published 02/07/2012