Saturday Sampler: I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

Something new I'm going to try - posting up the first few sentences of one of my favourite books every Saturday. (Feel free to join in if you have a blog of your own and link in the comments section!)

Today's choice; I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith.

Extract:
"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it, the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy. I can't say that I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left."

Why I love it:
Narrator Cassandra Mortmain is one of my favourite ever main characters and this is a superb coming of age story as she and her family struggle to survive in their crumbling castle, waiting for her father to overcome his writer's block and produce a follow-up to his one success, Jacob's Ladder. Then, the Cotton brothers, two wealthy Americans, arrive on the scene providing the opportunity for a romance...

Utterly gorgeous, this is a massive recommendation and I should really get round to doing a full review at some point.

BTW, while I normally think films can't come close to the books they're adapted from, simply stunning central performances from Romola Garai as Cassandra and Bill Nighy and Tara Fitzgerald as her father and stepmother make the 2000's movie a must-see as well.