Blue Castle Questions, Part 8

“You’re—a good actor, Barney.”

What do you think of Barney’s “confession” scene?

I love reading that. I read it over and over. Well, OK. I might skip a little on the whole Ehtel story--though I do feel like kissing him, too, when he's confessing that sorrowful past. My favorite of that favorite part is near the end when he has confessed and Valancy still can't believe he feels anything but pity for her. I feel like shaking Valancy myself because she can't see how much Barney loves her. But I also completely understand her because I have a hard time believing anyone loves me, and I myself would need to know with absolute surety from my beloved that he loved me. I did find that one swear word (the only one in the whole book!) to be utterly unnecessary. We could have seen his anger, frustration, and disappointment just as fine without it.

Valancy smiled through her tears. She was so happy that her happiness terrified her.

The Blue Castle is supposed to have a far-fetched and unnatural conclusion. Do you think L. M. Montgomery used this twist to give the reader what they wanted from the story? Did the ending detract from the story itself?

Far-fetched? Whatever. I don't think so. I mean, I don't think she created this hard-to-believe ending just to make the readers happy. And if that was the technique she was using, she uses it quite a bit in her short stories! "The Girl in the Photograph" anyone? (Oh--I love that short story!) I think the ending made it just as wonderful as the rest of the book. I love the ending. I felt it was a little rushed and I was so sad to be leaving them, never to return in a sequel but only in my imaginings.