The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

This is a sweet novel about a woman who, after being repressed all of her life, breaks free.
Valancy Stirling is a twenty-nine year old woman, unmarried, living with her mother and elderly cousin in turn of the century Ontario. Valancy is your textbook old maid. She's not very pretty, is quiet and subdued, and has never once been anyone of distinction. Every day of her life has been a disappointment and all she's ever wanted was one day of happiness, little does she know, her life is about to change forever. After a small act of rebellion, she decides to visit a heart doctor about some odd palpitations she's been having. She eventually learns that she has a very serious heart disease and has maybe a year to live. Valancy decides to stop living in fear of what other people might think or say, and starts doing and saying things she's always kept inside. She also leaves her mother's house to go work as a caretaker of an ill girl whom she went to school with who had an illegitimate child, and who's father was a known town drunkard, much to the horror and disapproval of her family. There is a man named Barney Snaith who visits this house on a regular basis to visit these people, and who holds something of a speculatively dubious reputation himself. As Valancy interacts with these people more and follows her own thoughts and wishes above those of other people's, and is finally needed by others, she begins to grow into the person she has always wanted to be.
The author was a bit wordy at times, giving descriptions that were a little too long about family members or situations or even quotations from novels Valancy enjoyed, but overall these didn't detract from the plot overmuch. There were also some annoying spelling errors, Valancy spelled Valance, Snaith spelled Smith, 'an' instead of 'a', things like this. They were few and far between, but still noticeable. I don't really find these annoying as I find it kind of a game to spot these errors in novels, but if that does annoy you they are here. They story is better than it's errors though, so I would recommend that you read it despite the spelling.
This was a very sweet novel. We are introduced to Valancy in all of her spinsterly misery. She was born into a tight-knit, very judgmental, upper middle class family. Her family does, and always has, pick on her for being unmarried and unattractive, and generally ignore her if they're not using her as a butt of one of their jokes. However, there is a hidden fire in Valancy that no one in her family can guess at, and after discovering her imminent death, decides that she need not be a slave to her fear anymore and let that fire out, as she won't be alive to have to deal with the gossip-mongering disapproval of her family. Events lead her to be living in the Muskokas, scenic cottage country a couple of hours north of Toronto, and the novel becomes a celebration of nature. The author describes the wildlife Valancy encounters with majesty and splendour. Her descriptions of the lakes and forests are magical. I have been to Muskoka and it was beautiful, but after having read this book I feel that I must go again, in winter this time.
The title of the book, the Blue Castle, makes reference to Valancy's dream castle. The place where she would mentally go when her physical life seemed unbearable. As the novel progresses, the Blue Castle moves from Valancy's dreams to the world she's living in. It represents her happiness, and as she openly becomes the person she has always been inside, her Blue Castle seems that much nearer.
This novel  was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables, Emily of New Moon and many others. The Blue Castle is one of her few adult novels and holds all of the charm and magic that her young adult novels have. I would definitely pick up this author, not just this book. There have been film adaptions to many of her stories, including: Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, Emily of New Moon, and Jane of Lantern Hill. If you don't want to read the novels (which I recommend that you do) at least watch the films. They're all heart-warming, charming, slightly romantic stories with strong characters and whimsical prose. Do it.

Lantern Hill (1990)

Lantern Hill is based on the novel Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery, the same author who wrote Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon. The movie was produced by Sullivan Entertainment, like Anne was, and just like Anne, this movie is a great find. I'm actually surprised I hadn't heard of it before acquiring it by chance and watching it. It really is very good.

The story follows a girl named Jane who lives in Toronto with her mother in the early 1900's. Her mother comes down with a serious illness however and Jane is forced to leave her middle class home to move in with her very wealthy grandmother while her mother recovers. Jane doesn't fit in very well here and, much to her grandmother's horror, would much rather spend her time in the kitchen or doing housework than socializing with other girls from elite families. She is also frequently bullied by her cousin who one day tells her that her father, whom she was told passed away, is alive. Her grandmother receives a letter soon after that from her father, requesting that Jane comes to live with him for a time in Prince Edward Island. Fearful of legal issues that could arise, her grandmother has no choice but to send her away. Jane of course goes along and, like many heroines in LMM books we get the sense that she isn't really wanted or needed (unlike many heroines though she does have both parents alive). Jane arrives and is picked up by her father's sister, who Jane seems not to gel with immediately. Jane meets her father, who is a writer, and he's a scatter brained person with a big dog and a house by the sea on Lantern Hill. At first she feels just as ostracized and out or place as she did back in Toronto, but as her relationship with her father gets a little better and she slowly settles into island life she feels happy. She also finds out that there is a potential woman in her father's life now, but he has never remarried since her mother. Jane of course wants her parents to reunite.

This movie is fantastic. It has the same level of production as Anne of Green Gables, but the story and character types are different so it has a different feel to it. Jane is a really great heroine. She's a good heroine because even though she loves doing domestic things (unpopular even today as something a woman should aspire to or even enjoy in some circles) she doesn't give in to the situations she's thrust into. She isn't very vocal about what she wants, but she stubbornly stays true to herself.

Also, a young Sarah Polley has a role in the film as a young scullery maid who befriends Jane. As fans may know, Sarah Polley stars in another successful Sullivan production called Road to Avonlea, which is a series featuring the town Anne was a part of, though she's not in the show at all.

Road to Avonlea- Season 2

The second season of Road to Avonlea is just as lively and full of character and spunk as the first one. The first season ended with Sarah deciding to stay in Avonlea with her family instead of returning to Montreal with her father, and the second season takes up where the first left off. This season focuses on allowing the audience to acquaint themselves with the residents of Avonlea, instead of using the people of Avonlea to develop Sarah's character, which is what I felt the first season did more. In many of the episodes Sarah doesn't play an inciting role as she did in the first season, she's just more along for the ride here, which unfortunately foreshadows future seasons. I personally most enjoy the episodes that focus on the king family, and while I value and enjoy the time given to going into the lives of some of the other town members, I wanted the story to focus more on the king children/ adults. I loved Marilla and Rachel in Anne of Green Gables, I already know who they are and have watched the Anne movies enough times over to have familiarized myself with their personalities and dynamic. Seeing them in Road to Avonlea is nice and provides familiarity, but I find that I don't really enjoy the episodes focused on them as I do when they're just side characters as I already know who they are.

The focus on other people provides the viewers with an outside perspective of the King family. This is one of the reasons this show is so rich and intricately woven. The story isn't told from just one perspective, but from many perspectives. So one minute we are seeing from the perspective of one person, and the next from another who shows us a different perspective on the first person. So for example, if we were to see from Hetty King's perspective, we would see her pride and sense of honour and need to do what's right, but from say, Rachel Lynd's perspective, or many of the other town's people, even Sarah sometimes, Hetty is stubborn and heartless and cares only for the King name. so we get two sides of the story.

This is as good, if not better than the first season as the children are a bit older, and therefore a bit better at acting, and the characters and story are fleshed out a bit more. Great continuation.

Road to Avonlea season one

This is a great series. I have watched and enjoyed Anne of Green Gables before and was prepared for the world I was walking into, but I enjoyed it anew, as if walking into it for the first time. It's a story about a girl who gets sent off to live with her deceased mother's family for some time because her father is in some legal trouble, and how she slowly becomes a part of this small town. It's a fantastic period piece. To my knowledge, the setting and costumes are spot on and the sentiments of the time are also present, which is really refreshing. I mean I respect the fact that the present day takes pride in political correctness, but back in the day women couldn't vote, and a lot was placed on religion... and it's nice to see that history wasn't changed for the sake of present ideals.

At times the acting was somewhat contrived, but overall I'd say the actors did a great job. Even where the actors didn't quite do it for me, the characterization and plot stepped in and changed my mind. The characters are really compelling and they all have a story to tell. They have fire and spunk, even the quiet ones or the ones who barely make their presence known. The main characters had very strong personalities. Sarah is very proud and stubborn and little to nothing will get in her way enough to stop the course of action she's chosen... but at the same time she's reserved and thoughtful. Aunt Hetty is also very stubborn and strong (.. pretty much all of the women in this series have a strong voice, the plot is moved by them collectively). She doesn't like showing emotion and is at odds with several people because of the wrongs she perceives they have committed against her. She's very set in her ways. Olivia is very whimsical and counteracts Hetty's tough exterior. I won't go into all of the characters because there are a lot, but the two who aren't in the immediate family I'd like to mention would be Felicity and Peg Bowen. Felicity is Sarah's cousin and is very spiteful and petty, but at the same time, when she's nice you can feel the force of her character utilized in a positive way and are grateful for it. She's an interesting character because you sometimes can't decide whether you should like her or hate her. Peg Bowen is the town 'witch'. I really enjoyed this character because she's outside the norm and can be the voice of reason, I thought she was well done.

The episodes are basically events that open up the community a bit in some way or another, and Sarah's always the cause. it's kind of like that movie Pollyanna in that respect, but much more multifaceted.

This series isn't half as well known as it should be, but I find that those who know about it tend to really love it. And just a note. Make sure that if you watch this series, you watch the version produced by Sullivan Entertainment and not Disney. Disney chopped out pieces of the story and changed the music, their version is called Tales from Avonlea. Stay away.