The Blue Castle: A Quick Read edition

Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read.
This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each
chapter.
\- Reading time of the complete text: about 6 hours
\- Reading time of the summarized text: 32 minutes

The Blue Castle is a novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery, published
in 1926. The story is set in the fictional town of Deerwood, located in the
Muskoka region of Ontario, Canada. The protagonist, Valancy Stirling, is a 29
-year-old "old maid" who has lived her entire life with her nagging mother and
aunt and gossipy extended family. After being diagnosed with a terminal heart
ailment, Valancy rebels against the colorless life they imposed on her. She
moves out of her mother's house and takes a position as a housekeeper for
childhood friend Cissy Gay and her father, master carpenter and notorious town
drunk Roaring Able. Valancy meets and spends time with Barney Snaith, who is a
good friend of both Abel and Cissy. Valancy proposes to Barney, revealing that
she is dying and wants to enjoy the remaining time she has left. Barney agrees
to marry her, and they have a quiet ceremony the next day. Valancy's family is
horrified by her marriage to such a "disreputable" man and effectively disowns
her. Barney takes Valancy to his home on a wooded island located on Lake
'Mistawis,' which Valancy sees as the 'Blue Castle' of her imagination. They
build a contented life together, though he forbids her from ever entering a
certain room in the house which she dubs 'Bluebeard's Chamber'. The year she
had to live is almost over when Valancy is nearly killed by an oncoming train,
her shoe caught in a train track. Barney saves her in the nick of time,
risking his own life to do so. After the shock passes, Valancy realizes that
she should have died of it: the doctor warned that any sudden shock would kill
her.