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Cover of I Capture the Castle by Dodie SmithI Capture the Castle
Classic · Fiction, Classics, Young Adult

I Capture the Castle

by Dodie Smith
1948 · 401 pages · Fiction
63.4Must-Read
Score Classic
Lifetime bestseller
≈ 10 hours to read · about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day

What it's about

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives with her eccentric family in a crumbling castle in the English countryside, desperately poor since her father, a once-famous writer, stopped writing. Cassandra fills her journal with everything that happens, especially when two young American brothers inherit the nearby estate, and her beautiful older sister Rose decides to marry one of them.

Why it's worth reading

It was voted onto the BBC's Big Read. Written by the author of 101 Dalmatians, it's a funny, charming coming-of-age story that many readers love deeply.

You'll love it if you liked

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Good to know

It's leisurely and gentle. The ending is bittersweet.

By the numbers

63.4Must-Read Score
  • Readers41 out of 100 · counts 42%
  • Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
  • Bestseller39 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
  • Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%

Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.

Where it ranks

Why it made the list

On the lists
BBC's The Big Read

Reads as

Moving

How we rank

Already read it? Upload your Goodreads or StoryGraph history and get the 50 best books you haven't read, tuned to your taste.Get my 50

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Explore the best-of lists

All 36 best-of lists →
Young adult booksTop 25 · 219 rankedClassic booksTop 25 · 762 rankedBooks of the 1940sTop 25 · 50 rankedFantasy booksTop 25 · 459 rankedMysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 555 rankedLiterary novelsTop 25 · 309 rankedMemoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 rankedScience fiction booksTop 25 · 313 ranked

Quick answers

Is I Capture the Castle worth reading?

Yes. It was voted onto the BBC's Big Read. It ranks #2,046 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 63.4 (the best book we found scores 99).

What is I Capture the Castle about?

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives with her eccentric family in a crumbling castle in the English countryside, desperately poor since her father, a once-famous writer, stopped writing. Cassandra fills her journal with everything that happens, especially when two young American brothers inherit the nearby estate, and her beautiful older sister Rose decides to marry one of them.

How long does it take to read I Capture the Castle?

About 10 hours (401 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.

What should I read after I Capture the Castle?

If you liked it, try Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen or The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.