Emilia Fox brings great depth and passion to Dodi Smith's wonderful tale of growing up and first love. Most people who read I Capture the Castle become lifelong devotees and proselytisers of a book which is difficult to forget. Peopled by a beautifully drawn cast of characters, the book is curiously both a period piece and somehow timeless. The universal emotions depicted combined with the undeniably exotic setting make it so.
Cassandra Mortmain and her singular family - writer father, artist's model stepmother, pulchritudinous older sister, gifted younger brother, and her admirers - family servant Stephen and the rich new owners of the eponymous castle, Simon and Neil Cotton - weave an unforgettable story, as recorded by the seventeen-year-old journal writer.
Often mistakenly classified as a novel for teen aged girls, I Capture the Castle will entrance all but the hard-bitten listener and would make a welcome gift for audiobook aficionados of all ages and either gender.
Quite brilliant!
* * * * *
© 2008 AudioBooksReview