Girlhood classic

I’ve shared quite a few memories of my favourite girlhood books, but I’m not nearly done yet. Today’s post is inspired by my visit to a book fair a couple of weeks ago. As I wrote earlier, I like to hunt for treasures in the used books' hall there. I found a few wonderful books this time, too, that I didn’t even know I wanted until they were there.

One great find was a 1950 edition of An Old-fashioned Girl by Louisa M. Alcott (1869). It doesn’t have a cover image – it has perhaps had a dust jacket at some point, now gone – and the gilded letters on its red spine have worn off, but that doesn’t matter. It looks and smells just like an old book should. I instantly knew I had to have it so I bought it. And unlike so many impulse buys on fairs, I haven’t regretted buying it and I know I won’t.

An Old-fashioned Girl tells the story of fourteen-year-old Polly Milton, a country girl who comes to visit her cousin Fanny Shaw in town. I’m not entirely sure where; the town is not named, but I think it’s somewhere on the US east coast. Boston, perhaps. The first part of the story consists mostly of incidents where Polly’s country manners clash with those more fashionable of Fanny and her friends. Polly is often tempted to have what they have, but whenever she succumbs she usually learns a lesson on the virtue of simpler lifestyle; many times she teaches that lesson to others too. The latter part of the book returns Polly to the same town as an adult. The Shaw family loses their fortune and Polly has a chance to help them to live a simpler, happier life. She finds her love, too, in the form of Tom Shaw, Fanny’s brother, a former wild boy who has grown into a decent man.

I loved the book and read it many times. When I was younger, I was moved by Polly’s struggles among the mean rich girls. I was particularly taken with the story of bronze shoes the peer pressure makes her buy but then can’t enjoy because she can’t afford to buy Christmas presents for her family. When I was older, it was the romance that I enjoyed most, the misunderstandings and broken hearts.

An Old-fashioned Girl is one of those books that teach you without being preachy. I learned that it was better to be poor and good than rich and mean, and that a suitable suitor needs more than good looks and addresses. They’re not exactly life lessons I’ve needed to live by, but they have stayed with me all these years.

I haven’t read the book in ages, and I’m not sure I’ll read it now that I have it on my shelf. But it’s a book that makes me happy to know that I have. Who knows, the mood might strike me for something sweet and good-natured. Something old-fashioned. Then I’ll know exactly what to read.

The blue castles of romance

Some romances are so romantic that I read them over again, even though I know the plot – and the gratifying happy ending – by heart. A favourite of mine among these has always been The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery (1926).

The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

Unlike her more famous books, like Anne of Green Gables, The Blue Castle is written for a grown-up audience. The heroine Valancy Stirling is twenty-nine, plain, and a spinster, much to the unhappiness of her (very unlikeable) family. She is unhappy without knowing what to do with her life, and she wouldn’t be given any leeway to change her life even if she did know. She only has her books and her daydreams.

At the beginning of the book, Valancy is given only a year to live, which makes her realise she’s never really lived. Liberated by the impending death, she takes the charge of her life, much to the horror of her relatives. She moves away from home to take care of a dying friend, ostracised by the society because she has borne an illegitimate child.

She also strikes a friendship with Barney Snaith, an odd, recluse man the whole town is convinced is a criminal. When Valancy’s friend dies, unwilling to return home, Valancy proposes to Barney, telling him she only has less than a year left herself and that she would want to live a little before she dies. He agrees and brings her to his home, the blue castle of the title, an old house in a remote island.

The romance between Barney and Valancy is sweet, a friendship turned to love with misunderstandings keeping the pair apart. There are plenty of hidden or mistaken identities, and letters lost and misplaced. And the romance is achieved without a kiss exchanged. Quite a lot is needed before the two can have their happily ever after, which being one of the sweetest endings I won’t give away. Read the book yourselves.

For years, I simply went to the library whenever I wanted to read the book and borrowed it. It was out of print and, anyway, old books like that don’t show up on bookstores all that often. But then I stumbled on it in a second-hand bookshop and I immediately bought it. Finally the happy owner of The Blue Castle, you’d think I’d read it at least once a year ever since, but I have to confess that owning it has been enough. I haven’t read it since. Maybe I’ll pick it up again one of these days. Perhaps you will too?

Here is the proposal scene:

“There is something you can do for me,” she said, evenly and distinctly. “Will you marry me?”

For a moment Barney was silent. There was no particular expression on his face. Then he gave an odd laugh. “Come, now! I knew luck was just waiting around the corner for me. All the signs have been pointing that way today….But why—why?”

“For two reasons.” Valancy was still a little breathless, but she looked Barney straight in the eyes while all the dead Stirlings revolved rapidly in their graves and the living ones did nothing because they did not know that Valancy was at that moment proposing lawful marriage to the notorious Barney Snaith. “The first reason is, I—I”—Valancy tried to say “I love you” but could not. She had to take refuge in pretended flippancy. “I’m crazy about you. The second is—this.” She handed him Dr. Trent’s letter.

Barney opened it with the air of a man thankful to find some safe, sane thing to do. As he read it, his face changed. He understood...”

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

I saw the Gone with the Wind movie before I read the book by Margaret Mitchell. It’s one of the rare films that do justice to the book it’s based on and is worth watching on its own right. The casting is superb and every detail down to the smallest is carefully carried out; the underskirts had genuine lace in them, even though no one could see them. The music alone is memorable.

I therefore knew what to expect, plot-wise, when I picked up the book when I was maybe thirteen. Nonetheless, the experience was very different from watching the movie. There are details in the book that didn’t make into the movie – perhaps rightly so – but which conveyed the history of the period better. The characters came across differently too, though I tried to imagine Clark Gable as Rhett Butler throughout; the man in the book simply didn’t fit my notion of a suave rogue of Gable’s portrayal of the character. The drama is more dramatic too. Melanie’s deathbed and the events that led up to the final break-up of Scarlett and Rhett were more intense – perhaps also because I anticipated them.

Even though I knew it would happen, I was upset with the ending, just like countless readers before me. However, the book being more detailed, Rhett’s choice was perhaps more understandable. Besides, I had a vivid imagination and was perfectly able to imagine a happy ending for it.

I liked the book immensely. I remember giving a book presentation of it at school when we were asked to introduce our favourite books. Not exactly the best choice; the story is so complex that my narration was very rambling and much too long. I still remember the strained look on my teacher’s face when I went on and on with it.

Gone with the Wind is one of those books I should re-read as an adult. It has themes that I barely understood – slavery the most notable of them, but also the dynamics of Rhett’s and Scarlett’s very violent relationship, both watered down in the movie. Most likely the ending would make a better sense to me too.

There was a follow-up to the book, Scarlett, that was written by Alexandra Ripley and published in 1991. Scarlett and Rhett find their happily ever after, but the characters are pale imitations of the originals and utterly forgettable. To this day, I don’t remember how the two ended up together. I haven’t read the other sequels either.

Unhappy ending may be upsetting to readers, but it has ensured the book is one of the most memorable love stories of our time. Who knows, the next time I read the book, I may find the ending just as it ought to be. And if I don’t – well, I can always imagine it differently.

Here is a trailer for the movie for you. I think it captures the essence of the love story wonderfully.