I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

We are the girls in the village! Welcome to the first episode of Weird Girl Book Club: the podcast where two best friends, Harmony and Maeve, recount the story of our friendship through the books that we love. Today we will be discussing Dodie Smith’s 1949 novel I Capture the Castle, a coming of age story told through the diary of seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain, who chronicles the lives of her eccentric family: her reclusive writer father, dramatic older sister Rose, and glamorous stepmother Topaz. When two Americans - Simon and Neil Cotton - arrive at the dilapidated castle that the Mortmains call home, their lives are thrown in disarray and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the first time.Warning: this episode contains discussion of bears, wirelesses, pub gardens and the insanity of being a teenage girl with a crush.You can follow us on Instagram at @weirdgirlbookclub_pod to keep up with new episode releases. If you have read the book, we’d love to hear from you!