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Summary
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Althea is the sole support of her entire family, and she must marry well. But there are few wealthy suitors--or suitors of any kind--in their small Yorkshire town of Lesser Hoo. Then, the young and attractive (and very rich) Lord Boring arrives, and Althea sets her plans in motion. There's only one problem; his friend and business manager Mr. Fredericks keeps getting in the way. And, as it turns out, Fredericks has his own set of plans . . . This witty take on the classic Regency--Patrice Kindl's first novel in a decade--is like literary champagne!
"If you're a fan of ICapture theCastle you will love this sharply funny tale of courtship. A delicious confection." -- Polly Shulman, author of Enthusiasm
"Take one Austenian heroine in desperate financial straits. Put her in a crumbling castle, give her two evil stepsisters and some very unsuitable suitors. Make it funny! Patrice Kindl's Keeping the Castle is an absolute charmer!" -- Karen Joy Fowler, author of The Jane Austen Book Club
Author Notes
Patrice Kindl (www.patricekindl.com) is the author of Owl in Love and Goose Chase as well as other award-winning novels. She has shared her 1830's home in a small village in rural upstate New York with a wide variety of creatures- a son, monkeys (she trained them to be aides to quadriplegics), birds, cats, dogs and hamsters. Her current household contains a singing, dancing, talking parrot, a faithful little black and brown dog, an old tiger cat and a very tolerant husband.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In her first book in 10 years, Kindl (Lost in the Labyrinth) creates a sharp-witted comedy of manners set in 19th-century England that mirrors the narrative voice of Jane Austen. Seventeen-year-old Althea Crawley's mission is to secure a husband rich enough to repair the family's crumbling castle, since her wealthier live-in stepsisters aren't much help. (They "did feel some obligation to contribute towards their upkeep, but the sum was ever in dispute, and tardy in payment.") Althea's best prospect for a suitable fiance is newcomer Lord Boring, but much to her annoyance, at social outings and parties she finds herself paired with his brash and outspoken companion, Mr. Fredericks. The banter between Althea and Mr. Fredericks will clue in readers that they are, in fact, a perfect match, something it takes Althea a while longer to recognize. Althea's tongue-in-cheek commentary regarding the selection of a suitor and her razorlike quips are abundantly entertaining, but it is the heroine's remarkable ingenuity and compassion for loved ones-including her widowed mother, younger brother, and an artist friend, Miss Vincy-that make her so endearing. Ages 12-up. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Althea Crawley is acutely aware that the fate of her impoverished family rests on her ability to parlay her remarkable beauty into a brilliant marriage. Her great-grandfathers quixotic desire to build a rambling pseudo-castle on the inhospitable Yorkshire coast has drained the family resources and left Althea, her widowed mother, and her young brother in perilous straits. Althea is determined to do her duty, but the dearth of eligible bachelors in Lesser Hoo and her lack of a dowry are formidable obstacles to success. So is her unfortunate habit of blurting out exactly what shes thinking to her suitors, with disastrous results. ("When would I learn to speak with a tactful tongue? There went another one.") The arrival of handsome Lord Boring at his country estate with a party of friends from London sets the neighborhood aflutter; suddenly picnics, balls, and social calls proliferate. Will any of the potential husbands measure up? What deep secret is the reticent Miss Vincy hiding? And why is the caustic Mr. Fredericks always underfoot? As misunderstandings and mishaps pile up, Althea blithely meddles in the romantic affairs of everyone around her, all the while remaining endearingly obtuse about the state of her own heart. Kindl effortlessly takes on the classic Regency romance in this witty and deftly plotted novel. Careful readers will spot affectionate nods to several of Jane Austens works -- no doubt the clever, outspoken Althea and Elizabeth Bennett would have been fast friends. terri schmitz (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Seventeen-year-old Althea Crawley is facing a plight familiar to characters in Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (1949), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and PBS' Downton Abbey: Perhaps one day women might be able to choose their husbands with no thought of money and position, but not in this day and age in Lesser Hoo, Yorkshire, England. Althea is on a quest to marry rich so that she may secure the family's only inheritance, a dilapidated castle on the edge of the North Sea. She also bears the burden of supporting her widowed mother, four-year-old brother, and two sour, wealthy stepsisters, who refuse to contribute financially to the household. Marriage prospects in tiny Lesser Hoo are slim, to say the least, until dashing and wealthy Lord Boring arrives on the scene. Matters are further complicated by a revolving cast of potential suitors, including Lord Boring's cousin, Mr. Fredericks, who is the Mr. Darcy to Althea's Elizabeth Bennet. As with any respectable story set in England in the nineteenth or early twentieth century, the ending is jam-packed with revelations, only some of which are surprising. In her first novel in a decade, Kindl (Goose Chase, 2001) writes with sharp, effervescent, period-specific language that is so spot-on readers may find themselves adopting a British accent. This witty take on classic Regency romances is frothy fun for YA Anglophiles.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Althea Crawley, 17, must marry a wealthy suitor in order to ensure her widowed mother and young brother do not end up among the impoverished. Their family castle, though unique in design and dear to their hearts, is poorly made and crumbling. Althea, by far the most attractive woman in Lesser Hoo, should be able to score a rich husband. However, her big mouth has a way of deterring potential proposals. Having run off several local bachelors already, Althea sets her sights on newcomer Lord Boring. She just might be able to secure this one, if only she can refrain from engaging with his obnoxious companion, Mr. Fredericks. Bianca Amato's narration of Kindl's novel ((Viking, 2012) is spot-on for the male roles, but a bit unconvincing when portraying the main character. Despite this drawback, the tale's humor shines through. This take on Pride and Prejudice is full of laughs and unexpected plot twists and a perfect choice for teens who love the romance of Jane Austen's classic but struggle with the language.-Jennifer Furuyama, Pendleton Public Library, OR (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A romp of a Regency romance told through the discerning voice of a witty teenage beauty whose family needs to her to marry for money. Lovely Althea Crawley, 17, lives with her kind but clueless twice-widowed mother in Crooked Castle, a drafty white elephant perched precariously on the Yorkshire coast. Althea's 4-year-old brother, who's heir to the castle, and her self-centered older stepsisters, Prudence and Charity, round out the household. With few funds to make ends meet, Althea, unlike so many fictional heroines who go off on unlikely adventures, accepts that she must marry for money. Prospects look up with the arrival in to the neighborhood of handsome young Lord Boring. When Althea launches her campaign, described in military terms, to secure his affections, not all goes as planned. As she pursues him, her occasional outspokenness raises a few eyebrows but also attracts admiration from an unsuspected quarter. Kindl respects the conventions of the genre while also gently mocking it. Althea observes, for example, that their ancient butler, Greengages, correctly pronounces the name of neighbor Doctor Haxhamptonshire as "Doctor Hamster." Readers will enjoy Althea's entertaining forays into the marriage market, secure in the belief that all will end well. While the happy ending comes as no surprise, the path to it is funny as well as satisfying, with many nods to Jane Austen along the way. (Fiction. 13 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Keeping the Castle By Patrice Kindl Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated ISBN: 9780670014385 from Keeping the Castle Chapter I We were walking in the castle garden. The silvery light of early spring streaked across the grass, transforming the overgrown shrubbery into a place of magic and romance. He had begged me for a few moments of privacy, to "discuss a matter of great importance." By this I assumed that he meant to make an offer of marriage. "I love you, Althea--you are so beautiful," murmured the young man into my ear. Well, I was willing enough. I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. "I love you too," I confessed. I averted my gaze and added privately, "You are so rich." Unfortunately, I apparently said this aloud, if just barely, and his hearing was sharper than one would expect, given his other attributes. "I beg your pardon? You love me because I'm rich?" "Not only because of that," I hastened to assure him. He also was reasonably amiable and came of a good family. He admired me and was apparently willing to overlook my lack of fortune, all points in his favor. And, yes, he was rich. Quite enough to turn the head, and the heart, of an impressionable and impecunious young girl such as myself. "So," he thought this over, "if I lost my money you wouldn't love me anymore?" "If I became ill," I countered, "so that my hair fell out in clumps and my skin was covered with scabs and I limped, would you still love me?" "Egad!" He stared at me, evidently attempting to picture this. He turned a little green. "But," I said, "Most likely those things will not happen. You are rich and I am beautiful. We should make an excellent couple. Our children will have my looks and your money." At least, so I hoped. Only imagine a child with his lack of neck and my lack of funds! The poor man's head looked exactly like a melon, or perhaps one of those large orange gourds from the Americas, bursting out of his cravat. And he had such big red lips, which he licked incessantly. We each were lost in our own separate thoughts for a moment, I, mourning the fate of these hypothetical offspring, he, as his subsequent commentary proved, considering the finer distinctions of desire and avarice. "It's not the same thing," he said at last, looking sulky. "Admiration of a woman's beauty in a man is . . ." he waved a hand, searching for the mot juste , "it's spiritual. It shows that he has a soul." His gaze swept up and down my form, lingering regretfully on my bosom, which was exposed enough for interest and covered enough for decorum. He licked his lips. "But," he went on, withdrawing his gaze, "any consideration of the contents of a man's purse by a lady he is courting is--I regret to say this to one I held in such high esteem only a few short moments ago, but I must--it is mercenary and shows a cold heart. I must withdraw my protestations of ardor. Good evening to you." He bowed, turned and stalked out of the garden. I sighed. When would I learn to speak with a tactful tongue? There went another one. I kept forgetting how ridiculously sensitive and illogical men were. He assumed that his fortune would buy a beauty; I assumed that my beauty would procure me a rich husband. It seemed much the same thing to me, but evidently what was permissible in a man was not in a woman. Ah well. There was yet time; I was but seventeen. Copyright (c) Patrice Kindl, 2012 Excerpted from Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher. Excerpted from Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.