
The Blue Castle
The Blue Castle
Oppressed by her overbearing family, "old maid" Valancy Stirling receives a terminal diagnosis that paradoxically sets her free. With nothing left to lose, she shocks her community by moving in with a notorious outlaw to live her final days on her own terms. It is a triumphant, cozy rebellion about finding life only when facing death.

Oppressed by her overbearing family, "old maid" Valancy Stirling receives a terminal diagnosis that paradoxically sets her free. With nothing left to lose, she shocks her community by moving in with a notorious outlaw to live her final days on her own terms. It is a triumphant, cozy rebellion about finding life only when facing death.
CHAPTER I
"If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely..."
CHAPTER II
"When Cousin Stickles knocked at her door, Valancy knew it was half-past seven and she must get up. A..."
CHAPTER III
"Breakfast was always the same. Oatmeal porridge, which Valancy loathed, toast and tea, and one teasp..."
CHAPTER IV
"“Got your rubbers on?” called Cousin Stickles, as Valancy left the house.Christine Stickles had neve..."
CHAPTER V
"Of course she must buy the tea in Uncle Benjamin’s grocery-store. To buy it anywhere else was unthin..."
CHAPTER VI
"The ordeal was not so dreadful, after all. Dr. Trent was as gruff and abrupt as usual, but he did no..."
CHAPTER VII
"There was a rosebush on the little Stirling lawn, growing beside the gate. It was called “Doss’s ros..."
CHAPTER VIII
"Valancy did not sleep that night. She lay awake all through the long dark hours—thinking—thinking. S..."
CHAPTER IX
"Uncle Herbert and Aunt Alberta’s silver wedding was delicately referred to among the Stirlings durin..."
CHAPTER X
"“Bless this food to our use and consecrate our lives to Thy service,” said Uncle Herbert briskly.Aun..."
CHAPTER XI
"Meanwhile the dinner in its earlier stages was dragging its slow length along true to Stirling form...."
CHAPTER XII
"Valancy hurried home through the faint blue twilight—hurried too fast perhaps. The attack she had wh..."
CHAPTER XIII
"Uncle Benjamin found he had reckoned without his host when he promised so airily to take Valancy to..."
CHAPTER XIV
"Life cannot stop because tragedy enters it. Meals must be made ready though a son dies and porches m..."
CHAPTER XV
"“Let us be calm,” said Uncle Benjamin. “Let us be perfectly calm.”“Calm!” Mrs. Frederick wrung her h..."
CHAPTER XVI
"Valancy had walked out to Roaring Abel’s house on the Mistawis road under a sky of purple and amber,..."
CHAPTER XVII
"When Valancy had lived for a week at Roaring Abel’s she felt as if years had separated her from her..."
CHAPTER XVIII
"Valancy was acquainted with Barney by now—well acquainted, it seemed, though she had spoken to him o..."
CHAPTER XIX
"Of course, the Stirlings had not left the poor maniac alone all this time or refrained from heroic e..."
CHAPTER XX
"When Abel Gay paid Valancy her first month’s wages—which he did promptly, in bills reeking with the..."
CHAPTER XXI
"“We’ll just sit here,” said Barney, “and if we think of anything worth while saying we’ll say it. Ot..."
CHAPTER XXII
"The next thing the Stirlings heard was that Valancy had been seen with Barney Snaith in a movie thea..."
CHAPTER XXIII
"On one of Cissy’s wakeful nights, she told Valancy her poor little story. They were sitting by the o..."
CHAPTER XXIV
"Valancy herself made Cissy ready for burial. No hands but hers should touch that pitiful, wasted lit..."
CHAPTER XXV
"On the evening of the day after the funeral Roaring Abel went off for a spree. He had been sober for..."
CHAPTER XXVI
"The next day passed for Valancy like a dream. She could not make herself or anything she did seem re..."
CHAPTER XXVII
"Cousin Georgiana came down the lane leading up to her little house. She lived half a mile out of Dee..."
CHAPTER XXVIII
"Summer passed by. The Stirling clan—with the insignificant exception of Cousin Georgiana—had tacitly..."
CHAPTER XXIX
"Valancy toiled not, neither did she spin. There was really very little work to do. She cooked their..."
CHAPTER XXX
"They didn’t spend all their days on the island. They spent more than half of them wandering at will..."
CHAPTER XXXI
"Autumn came. Late September with cool nights. They had to forsake the verandah; but they kindled a f..."
CHAPTER XXXII
"New Year. The old, shabby, inglorious outlived calendar came down. The new one went up. January was..."
CHAPTER XXXIII
"Spring. Mistawis black and sullen for a week or two, then flaming in sapphire and turquoise, lilac a..."
CHAPTER XXXIV
"Valancy had two wonderful moments that spring.One day, coming home through the woods, with her arms..."
CHAPTER XXXV
"Thirty seconds can be very long sometimes. Long enough to work a miracle or a revolution. In thirty..."
CHAPTER XXXVI
"Finally Valancy went to bed. Before she went she re-read Dr. Trent’s letter. It comforted her a litt..."
CHAPTER XXXVII
"Dr. Trent looked at her blankly and fumbled among his recollections.“Er—Miss—Miss—”“Mrs. Snaith,” sa..."
CHAPTER XXXVIII
"Valancy walked quickly through the back streets and through Lover’s Lane. She did not want to meet a..."
CHAPTER XXXIX
"She must write a note. The imp in the back of her mind laughed. In every story she had ever read whe..."
CHAPTER XL
"Valancy paused a moment on the porch of the brick house in Elm Street. She felt that she ought to kn..."
CHAPTER XLI
"Valancy looked dully about her old room. It, too, was so exactly the same that it seemed almost impo..."
CHAPTER XLII
"It was not until early afternoon the next day that a dreadful old car clanked up Elm Street and stop..."
CHAPTER XLIII
"“But, Barney,” protested Valancy after a few minutes, “your father—somehow—gave me to understand tha..."
CHAPTER XLIV
"Extract from letter written by Miss Olive Stirling to Mr. Cecil Bruce:“It’s really disgusting that D..."
CHAPTER XLV
"Valancy and Barney turned under the mainland pines in the cool dusk of the September night for a far..."