The entire family is completely penniless, with Stephen, the son of their dead housekeeper, the only money earner. Cassandra has given herself the task of finding a suitably rich bachelor to marry Rose, who finds living in poverty impossible, but the problem is, they do not know anybody at all, other than the librarian from in the village, Miss Marcy. However, it seems like a miracle one day, when two handsome heirs to the local manor lose their way, and end up at Godsend Castle, where the Mortmains live, so Cassandra sets about trying to make the older of the two fall in love with Rose.
I found this book both comical and sad, which are two things you can rarely find in books for our age group. It is amusing the way that Cassandra cannot see how funny the various situations are, but as a reader, it is incredibly obvious.
It is set in the time of King George the V, and therefore uses quite challenging and old-fashioned vocabulary and language. However, this is not a disadvantage to the book, as practically the whole storyline is rested upon the theory that women cannot work for themselves, and rely on men.
In the quote I am about to read, the two men have just come to Godsend Castle accidentally. One of the men (Neil) is outside, and the other (Simon) is in the kitchen. Cassandra is in the bath in the kitchen (but behind a clothes horse), and she has just told Simon so. He thinks she is a child for some reason, and she has not corrected him. Neil has just found his way into the kitchen.
(Quote)
I chose to read this quote because it is slightly funny, and it does not give away too much of the story, and it gives a good flavour of the tone of the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to someone of our age, as it is funny, sad, and overall very enjoyable. I would read other work by Dodie Smith, because I have enjoyed this book, and hopefully her others are just as good.
As a reading challenge, my next book could perhaps be more serious, or a classic.
